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BV  2370  .N4  A4  1912 
Aiken,  Edwin  J. 
The  first  hundred  years  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Bible 


Hon.  David  Cross. 

President,  1S99- 


THE  FIRST  HUNDRED  YEARS 

OF  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

BIBLE  SOCIETY 


1812-1912 


Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken 

Secretary,  1898-1912 


The  Rumford  Press 

Concord,  N.  H. 

1  912 


TABLE    OF     CONTENTS. 


PAGE' 


OxE  Hundred  Years  of  Bible  Work  in  New  Hampshire    ....  1 

Constitution  of  1812 2 

Organization  of  the  Bible  Society 4 

Act  of  Incorporation,  1812 5 

Fiftieth  Anniversary 23 

Se\^nty-fifth  Anniversary 38 

Constitution  of  1897 45 

One  Hundredth  Annual  Meeting 51 

Financial  Report 54 

Officers  of  1812  and  1912 56 

Officers  from  1812  to  1912 57 

Life  Members  1912 61 

Corporate  Members  1912 63 

County  Bible  Societies 63 

Ladies'  Bible  Associations 66 

COLPORTAGE  WoRK 68 

A  Look  Forward 70 

Biographical  Sketches 71 

The  Printing  of  the  Scriptures  in  New  Hampshire 76 

Editions  of  the  Bible 77 

Editions  of  the  New  Testament  from  1818  to  1865 78 


APPENDIX. 

The  Story  of  Mary  Jones,  and  the  Organization  of  the  British 

and  Foreign  Bible  Society 81 

The  Organization  and  Work  of  the  American  Bible  Society       .      .  82 

Organization  of  other  Bible  Societies 84 

Organization  of  the  New  England  Bible  Societies 85 

The  Circulation  of  the  Scriptures 85 

Translation  of  the  Scriptures 86 

Facts  About  the  Bible 86 


PORTRAITS. 

Hon.  David  Cross,  LL.D.     Frontispiece. 

Hon.  John  Langdon,  LL.D 4 

Rev.  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D. 9 

Rev.  Ebenezer  E.  Cummings,  D.D 19 

Hon.  Edward  Spalding,  M.D 23 


IV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Hon.  John  Kimball 29 

Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  D.D 35 

Dea.  WilI/IAm  G.  Brown 39 

Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith,  LL.D 45 

Rev.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn 51 

Rev.  Elisha  Adams,  D.D 57 

Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken 62 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Meeting  House,  Concord,  N.  H.,  1812 66 

New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  Depository, 

6  School  St.,  Concord,  N.  H 70 

Full  Size  Title  Page  of  the  New  Testament, 

Printed  by  Samuel  Bragg,  Jr.,  Dover,  N.  H.,  1803  ....  76 
Full  Size  Title  Page  of  the  New  Testament,  /» 

Printed  by  Simeon  Ide,  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.  1815 78 

Monument  Erected  in  Memory  of  the 

Rev.  Thomas  Charles,  Bala,  Wales 81 

American  Bible  Society  Work  in  China 83 

American  Bible  Society  Work  in  Siam 84 


PREFACE. 

No  date  in  the  history  of  New  Hampshire  shines  with  clearer 
lustre  than  the  3rd  day  of  June  1812,  and  yet  the  birth  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  when  it  occurred,  seems  to  have 
attracted  but  little  public  attention,  if  any  at  all.  The  writer 
has  searched  the  papers  published  during  the  month  of  June  1812 
\Ndthout  finding  a  word  of  record  or  of  welcome.  '  This  Society 
was  organized  one  hundred  years  ago  and  exists  today  simply  to 
circulate  one  book,  and  a  centenary  history  of  the  Society  and  of 
its  work  means  much. 

For  the  facts  and  figures  herein  given  we  are  dependent  upon 
the  written  records  and  published  reports  of  the  Society.  But  as 
one  traces  the  story  of  the  Society's  work  for  a  hundred  years  and 
is  made  to  understand  something  of  the  giant  obstacles  before  it, 
and  of  the  courage  and  zeal  of  those  who  undertook  it  and  have 
continued  it  through  these  many  years,  he  must  look  upward, 
as  well  as  outward  and  onward  with  faith,  and  humbly  and 
thankfully  confess  that  "This  is  the  Lord's  doings,  and  it  is 
marvellous    in    our  eyes." 

The  object  of  the  Society  and  its  work  is  "That  they  might 
know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Thou 
hast  sent."  And  should  this  compiling  of  facts  inspire  the  reader 
to  a  more  earnest  Christian  service  and  to  a  more  zealous  study 
of  the  Word,  it  will  repay  the  compiler  many  fold. 

Edwin  J.  Aiken. 


ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS  OF  BIBLE  WORK  IN 
NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

In  the  printed  report  of  the  New  Hampshire  Home  Missionary 
Society  at  the  beginning  of  Bible  work  in  New  Hampshire,  date 
1803,  we  find  the  following:  "Is  not  the  object  important,  and 
worthy  of  fupport? — The  Gofpel  is  the  greateft  of  all  bleffings. 
This  alone  contains  a  fovereign,  ample  remedy  for  perifhing, 
immortal  fouls.  We  enjoy  its  benign  bleffings.  We,  who,  in 
our  anceftors,  afar  off  from  God,  ftrangers  to  the  covenant  of 
promife,  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world;  we, 
through  the  benevolence,  charity  and  zeal  of  others,  from  other 
nations,  in  ages  paft,  do  enjoy  that  bleffed  Book,  which  brings 
life  and  immortality  to  light.  But  there  are  others,  innumerable, 
who  do  not  enjoy  it;  but  are  perifhing  for  lack  of  vifion.  And 
multitudes  of  our  own  nation  and  kindred,  in  our  infant  fettle- 
ments,  are  in  a  ftate  but  little  fuperior  to  theirs."  We  find  that 
with  the  close  of  the  year  1805  "our  miffionaries  have  diftributed 
(and  have  on  hand  for  diftribution)  26  Bibles  and  15  Testaments." 

The  first  proposition  to  form  a  Bible  Society  independent  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Home  Missionary  Society  was  made  at  a 
gathering  of  the  General  Association  of  Congregational  Min- 
isters at  Exeter,  September  19,  1810.  The  following  September 
at  a  meeting  of  the  same  body  at  Dunbarton,  it  was  decided  to 
be  expedient  that  such  a  Society  should  be  formed.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  Christians  of 
all  denominations  inviting  them  to  unite  in  such  an  organization, 
and  also  to  draw  up  a  constitution  and  call  the  first  meeting. 

The  following  notice  was  printed  in  the  New  Hampshire 
Patriot,  under  date  of  May  26,  1812. 

BIBLE  SOCIETY. 

All  persons  who  wish  to  be  members  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society 
are  desired  to  meet  at  the  Meeting  House  in  this  town,  on  the  3rd  day  of  June 
next,  at  10  o'clock  A.M.  when  the  Constitution  of  the  Society  is  to  be  adopted, 
and  officers  chosen  for  the  year  ensuing. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  the  First  Congregational  Church,  at 
Concord. 

1 


2  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

The  Constitution  reported  by  the  committee  was  as  follows : 

CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE 
SOCIETY. 

1.  The  Society  shall  be  called  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society.  The  sole  object  of  the  Society  is  to  promote  the  more 
extensive  distribution  of  the  Holy  Bible.  This  object  is  to  be 
invariably  pursued,  by  procuring  and  distributing,  gratuitously, 
among  the  destitute  and  needy,  or  selling  at  reduced  prices,  accord- 
ing to  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  Bibles  or  Testa- 
ments, in  the  English  language,  of  the  present  received  version^ 
without  note  or  comment;  and  by  aiding,  in  case  the  funds  of 
the  Society  shall  admit,  in  translating  and  printing  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  in  other  languages,  for  charitable  distribution. 

2.  Every  person  who  advances  forty  dollars,  shall  be  a  member 
of  the  Society  for  life;  and  every  person,  who  gives  his  name  to 
the  Secretary,  and  annually  pays  either  two  or  three  dollars, 
shall  be  a  member,  until  he  signify  to  some  officer  of  the  Society 
his  desire  to  withdraw.  So  long  as  persons  pay  their  annual  sub- 
scription, a  member  who  pays  two  dollars  shall  be  entitled  to  one 
Bible  annually;  and  every  other  member  shall  be  entitled  to  two 
Bibles  annually;  provided  that  these  Bibles  are  applied  for  at  the 
time  of  the  annual  payment,  or  within  a  year  afterwards. 

3.  The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  a  President,  three  Vice- 
Presidents,  a  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  four  Directors,  to  be 
chosen  annually  by  ballot.  Of  these  officers,  two  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents,  the  Secretary,  and  two  of  the  Directors,  only,  shall 
be  Ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

4.  The  above  named  officers  shall  be  a  Board  of  Directors; 
six  of  whom  shall  be  a  quorum  for  transacting  business;  but  a 
less  number  may  adjourn  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  necessary. 
This  Board  shall  meet  immediately  after  their  appointment,  and 
afterwards  upon  their  own  adjournment;  and  also  when  required 
by  the  President  or  senior  Vice-President.  They  shall  manage 
all  the  concerns  of  the  Society,  and  exert  themselves  to  promote 
its  object.  For  this  purpose,  it  shall  appoint  agents,  in  different 
places,  for  procuring  subscriptions  and  donations,  and  for  dis- 
tributing Bibles;  and  shall  adopt  whatever  rules  and  measures 
they  may  judge  expedient,  which  are  compatible  with  this  Con- 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  3 

stitution.  At  every  annual  meeting,  they  shall  exhibit  to  the 
Secretary  a  written  report  of  their  proceedings,  together  with 
such  information  and  suggestions  as  they  may  think  deserving 
the  consideration  of  the  Society,  and  calculated  to  animate  their 
exertions  in  distributing  the  Holy  Bible. 

5.  The  Society  shall  annually  appoint  two  persons,  to  be 
Auditors  of  the  Treasurer's  accounts,  and  report  to  the  Society. 

6.  In  case,  the  office  of  Secretary  or  Treasurer,  or  Auditor, 
shall  become  vacant,  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  appoint  some 
person  to  fill  the  vacancy  until  the  next  annual  meeting.  But 
no  member  of  the  Board  shall  ever  be  appointed  an  Auditor. 

7.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  shall  be  on  the  Wednes- 
day following  the  third  Tuesday  in  September,  at  5  o'clock,  P.  M. 
in  the  same  place  where  the  Now  Hampshire  Missionary  Society 
shall  hold  their  annual  meeting;  unless  the  Society  shall  determine 
to  meet  at  some  other  time  and  place.  Notice  of  the  time  and 
place  of  such  meeting  shall  be  given  by  the  Secretary  in  such 
manner  as  the  Society  shall  direct. 

8.  All  sums  which  may  be  given,  beside  those  which  constitute 
membership,  will  be  gratefully  received,  and  devoted  to  the  sole 
object  of  the  Society. 

9.  The  President,  or  in  his  absence  the  senior  Vice-President, 
or  in  th3ir  absence  the  senior  Director  present,  shall  preside  in 
all  meetings  of  the  Society  and  of  the  Board.  The  Secretary 
shall  record  their  proceedings,  and  correspond  in  their  name.  He 
shall  also  keep  an  account  of  all  monies  which  shall  be  paid  to  the 
Treasurer,  and  of  all  orders  drawn  on  him.  The  Treasurer  shall 
give  receipts  for  all  the  money  which  he  receives,  and  shall  make 
no  disbursements  without  an  order  drawn  on  him,  by  direction 
of  the  Board. 

10.  Any  article  in  this  Constitution,  except  the  first,  may  be 
altered  or  amended,  at  any  annual  meeting,  by  vote  of  two  thirds 
of  the  members  present. 

11.  Members  of  other  Bible  Societies,  and  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel  not  belonging  to  this  state,  who  may  be  present  at  an 
annual  meeting,  shall  be  invited  to  set  with  the  Society,  as  cor- 
responding members. 

This  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  the  following  officers  were 
elected : 


4  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

His  Excellency,  Gov.  John  Langdon,  LL.D.,  President. 

Rev.  Seth  Paj'son,  D.D.,  Rindg3,  Vice-President. 

Rev.  John  H.  Church,  Pelham,  Secretary. 

Jonathan  Wilkins,  Esq.,  Concord,  Treasurer. 

Daniel  Emerson,  Hollis,  ] 

Rev.  John  Smith,  Salem,  i  j^^^^^i^^ 

Maj.  John  Mills,  Dunbarton,  [ 

Rev.  Reed  Paige,  Hancock,        I 

Rev.  Abraham  Burnham,  \  a   il't 

Dea.  Abiel  Rolfe,  Concord,       / 

One  hundred  and  sixty  persons  united  with  the  Society  during 
the  first  four  months.  The  formation  of  a  Bible  Society  in  our 
state  was  an  event  in  its  history.  It  shows  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  upon  the  early  men  of  the  state,  for  New  Hampshire  could 
not  have  furnished  a  more  distinguished  company  than  the  thirty- 
five  clergymen  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  laymen  whose 
names  appear  on  the  list  of  founders. 

The  Society  had  its  origin  in  a  time  of  war.  As  a  nation,  we 
were  then  engaged  in  the  second  conflict  with  Great  Britain. 
They  were  dark  days  and  there  was  in  the  minds  of  many  good 
men  a  hesitation  in  regard  to  the  formation  of  a  Bible  Society. 
They  asked,  "Can  it  be  carried  on  and  supported  in  New  Hamp- 
shire?" The  seaports  of  the  country  were  then  blockaded,  and 
Bibles  printed  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  could 
not  be  obtained.  But  the  Society  succeeded  in  purchasing  during 
the  first  three  months  of  its  existence,  four  hundred  and  fifty 
copies  of  the  Bible  of  West  and  Blake  in  Boston  for  immediate 
distribution.  The  record  says,  "These  Bibles  were  purchased 
for  sixty-four  cents.  The  same  could  have  been  bought  in  Hart- 
ford, Ct.  for  62  1-2  cents,  but  on  account  of  the  risk  of  transport- 
ing them  by  water  in  the  time  of  war,  it  was  thought  best  to  pur- 
chase at  Boston,  especiafly  when  it  was  found  that  we  could  take 
the  Bibles  at  the  bindery  in  Concord,  N.  H." 

Twenty  agents  were  appointed  in  different  parts  of  the  state 
for  the  sale  of  the  Bibles  and  to  sohcit  contributions,  and  $508.77 
was  received  during  the  first  four  months  of  work. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  connection 
with  the  annual  meeting  of  the  General  Association  of  Congre- 
gational Churches  of  New  Hampshire  at  Holhs,  September  16, 


Hon.  .John  Lancuox. 

President,  1812-1814. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  5 

1812,  and  its  first  report,  which  was  called  an  annual  report, 
covers  less  than  four  months.  At  this  meeting  the  officers  of  the 
Society  elected  in  June  were  re-elected,  and  Rev.  John  Smith 
and  Rev.  John  H.  Church  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare 
a  petition  to  the  Legislature  for  an  act  of  incorporation;  and  the 
Hon.  Thomas  W.  Thompson  and  Rev.  Reed  Paige  were  appointed 
agents  of  the  Society  to  present  the  petition  at  the  November 
session. 

The  following  petition  was  presented: 

"The  petition  of  John  Langdon  and  others  praying  that  they 
may  be  incorporated  into  a  body  politic  by  the  name  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Bible  Society. 

To  the  Honorable  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in 
General  Court  Convened,  the  undersigners,  having  formed  them- 
selves into  a  society  for  the  purpose  of  gratuitously  distributing 
the  Holy  Scriptures  among  the  destitute  and  needy,  humbly  pray, 
that  they  and  their  associates  may  be  incorporated  into  a  body 
politic,  by  the  name  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  with 
all  the  powers  and  privileges  incident  to  incorporations  of  a 
similar  nature;  and  your  petitions  as  in  duty  bound  will  hum- 
bly and  thankfully  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  your  honor- 
able   body. 

John  Langdon  John  H.  Church 

John  T.  Oilman  Moses  Whiting 

Wm.  F.  Rowland  William  Hardy,  2nd 

Walter  Harris  John  Marsh 

Samuel  Harris  Reed  Page 

Daniel  Hardy  Asa  McFarland 

John  Kelley  Tho.  W.  Thompson 
John  Smith" 

The  following  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained : 

State  of  New  Hampshire. 

"  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twelve. 

An  Act,  to  incorporate  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society. 

Whereas,  The  Hon.  John  Langdon,  John  T.  Oilman,  and 
others,    have  petitioned  the  General    Court,  praying  that  they 


6  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

and  their  associates  may  be  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of 
circulating  more  extensively  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by  distrib- 
uting them  gratuitously  amongst  the  poor  and  needy,  and 
disposing  of  them  at  reduced  prices;  and  the  prayer  thereof 
appearing  reasonable: 

Therefore, 

1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
in  General  Court  convened.  That  John  Langdon,  John  T.  Oilman, 
Seth  Payson,  Reed  Paige,  and  John  H.  Church,  and  their  asso- 
ciates and  successors,  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  incorporated  and 
made  a  body  politic,  by  the  name  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society:  and  by  that  name  may  sue  and  prosecute,  be  sued  and 
prosecuted,  to  final  judgment  and  execution;  and  shall  be,  and 
hereby  are,  vested  with  all  the  privileges  and  powers  which  by 
law  are  incident  to  corporations  of  a  similar  nature. 

2.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  Seth  Payson  and  John  H. 
Church,  or  either  of  them,  may  call  a  meeting  of  said  Society,  to 
be  holden  at  any  suitable  time  and  place,  by  advertising  the  same 
in  one  of  the  Concord  newspapers  at  least  fourteen  days  before 
the  time  of  holding  said  meeting;  and  the  members  of  the  Society, 
by  a  majority  present,  or  represented  at  said  meeting,  shall 
choose  a  Clerk  or  Secretary,  who  shall  be  sworn  to  the  faithful 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office ;  and  shall  agree  on  a  method 
of  calling  future  meetings;  and  at  the  same  or  any  subsequent 
meeting  may  elect  such  officers,  and  make  and  establish  such 
by-laws,  as  to  them  shall  appear  to  be  expedient  to  carry  into 
execution  the  benevolent  design  of  the  Society;  and  the  same 
by-laws  cause  to  be  enacted,  and  annex  suitable  penalties  to  the 
breach  thereof;  provided  said  rules  and  by-laws  be  not  repugnant 
to  the  Constitution  and  Laws  of  this  state. 

3.  And  bs  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  Society  be,  and 
they  are  hereby,  authorized  and  empowered  to  hold  personal 
estate,  not  exceeding  five  thousand  dollars." 

This  Society  had  its  origin  when  few  similar  societies  existed 
in  the  world.  Only  five  Bible  Societies  existed  in  the  whole 
Eastern  Hemisphere — one  in  Oreat  Britain,  three  on  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe  and  one  in  India.  Only  four  years  had  passed 
since  the  formation  of  the  first  Bible  Society  in  America,  and 
there  were  few  societies  existing  in  the   United  States.     There 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  7 

were  but  three  State  Bible  Societies  in  New  England — the  Con- 
necticut Bible  Societj',  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society,  and  the 
Bible   Society  of  Maine. 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church  at  Plymouth,  September  21,  1813.  Hon. 
John  Langdon  was  re-elected  President,  and  Rev.  Seth  Payson, 
D.D.,  Ebenezer  Adams  and  Rev.  Nathan  Parker,  D.D.,  were 
elected  Vice-Presidents.  The  Secretary  reported  that  a  die  for 
stamping  Bibles  had  been  presented  by  Mr.  Jacob  Perkins,  of 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  extended  to  tha 
donor.  Also,  a  gift  of  one  hundred  dollars  was  received  from 
the  Hon.  John  Langdon.  The  membership  had  increased  to 
334,  and  the  reports  as  to  Bible  distribution  W3re  as  follows: 

Rev.  Mr.  Morrison  reported  that  he  had  given  "twelve  to 
people  unable  to  get  Bibles,  but  very  desirous  of  them";  Rev. 
Mr.  Rowland  reported  that  he  had  distributed  twenty-four, 
mostly  in  Exeter  and  Stratham;  Rev.  Mr.  Burnham  had  given 
eight  to  persons  in  divers  places;  Rev.  Timothy  Clark  had  dis- 
tributed eight  on  missionary  ground  in  the  North-eastern  part 
of  the  state;  the  Secretary  had  given  nine  to  poor  persons  in  Pelham 
and  Nottingham-West;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Rolfe  had  given  away 
nine  in  the  vicinity  of  Groton.  Eighteen  hundred  copies  of  the 
Bible  were  purchased  this  year  for  $768.00,  and  sixteen  hundred 
copies  were  distributed  in  the  state. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  it  was  voted:  "That 
Five  Hundred  Dollars  be  appropriated,  as  soon  as  the  funds  of 
the  Society  shall  admit,  to  aid  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures 
in  Asia,  or  in  some  other  place,  as  Divine  Providence  shall  appear 
to  direct." 

A  Bible  Society  was  established  in  St.  Petersburg,  in  Russia 
during  the  year. 

At  the  third  annual  meeting  held  in  Hanover  on  September  21, 
1814,  the  Society  received  a  letter  from  its  President  enclosing 
one  hundred  dollars  and  declining  to  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
election. The  following  vote  was  passed:  "That  the  Society 
express  to  the  Hon.  John  Langdon  the  grateful  sense  which  the 
Society  entertains  of  the  services  he  has  rendered  the  cause  of 
the  Redeemer,  as  President  of  this  Society,  and  by  his  generous 


8  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

donations  in  aid  of  its  funds."  The  Hon.  Timothy  Farrar,  of 
New  Ipswich,  was  elected  President,  and  George  Hough,  of 
Concord,  Treasurer. 

The  following  item  of  interest  is  found  in  the  report  for  this 
year: 

"The  Bible  Society  of  Massachusetts  distributed  last  year  78 
minion  Bibles,  743  common  Bibles,  and  226  Testaments.  They 
have  also  refunded  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
the  sum  of  £157:2:9  sterling,  being  the  amount  of  an  invoice  of 
Bibles  and  Testaments  shipped  by  said  Society,  for  charitable 
distribution  in  North  America,  but  taken  by  one  of  our  privateers 
and  sold  at  auction.  They  have  more  recently  purchased  900 
Bibles  and  300  Testaments,  which  had  been  likewise  shipped  by 
said  Society  for  distribution  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but 
taken  by  a  privateer  and  sent  into  Bath,  in  the  district  of  Maine. 
By  the  liberality  of  the  captors,  these  were  purchased  on  very 
low  terms,  and  will  be  forwarded  by  the  Massachusetts  Society 
to  the  place  of  their  original  destination." 

"It  was  voted  to  remit  the  sum  of  Five  Hundred  Dollars  to 
the  Bible  Society  of  Philadelphia  to  aid  in  printing  an  edition 
of  fifty  thousand  copies  of  the  French  New  Testament  for  chari- 
table distribution  among  the  Catholics  in  Louisiana.  Also  Two 
Hundred  Dollars  were  sent  to  the  New  York  Bible  Society  to  aid 
in  printing  six  thousand  copies  of  the  Bible  in  French  for  work 
in  the  southwest  of  our  country." 

In  the  four  years  from  the  formation  of  the  Society,  with  a 
membership  of  710,  4,600  copies  of  the  Bible  and  1,500  copies 
of  the  New  Testament  were  placed  in  the  famihes  of  the  state. 
The  Society  being  unable  to  make  the  needful  supply  in  all  parts 
of  the  state,  the  Connecticut  Bible  Society  generously  forwarded 
five  hundred  copies  of  the  Bible,  with  the  request  that  two  hun- 
dred copies  be  sent  to  the  "district  of  Maine  for  charitable  dis- 
tribution." 

The  following  was  received  from  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society, 
"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  managers  be  presented  to  the 
Bible  Society  of  New  Hampshire  for  Five  Hundred  Dollars 
liberally  granted  in  aid  of  printing  the  French  New  Testament." 

The  fourth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Keene,  September  20, 
1815,  and  Rev.  Fred  Paige  was  elected  Vice-President. 


Rev.  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D. 

Director,  1852-1855. 
Vice-President,  1855-1872. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  •  9 

In  acknowledging  a  donation  from  this  Society  to  the  Connec- 
ticut Reserve  Bible  Society  for  work  at  New  Orleans,  the  fol- 
lowing action  was  taken:  "This  seasonable  and  generous  dona- 
tion ($200)  from  the  New  Hampshire  Bil^le  Society  fills  our  hearts 
with  joy,  and  merits  a  return  of  our  most  cordial  thanks."  Also 
this  year  one  hundred  Bibles  were  sent  to  Huron  and  two  hundred 
and  fift}'-  copies  to  Michigan  Territory, 

The  President  of  this  Society  received  a  letter  from  Hon.  Elias 
Boudinot,  President  of  the  Bible  Society  of  New  Jersey,  making 
a  proposal  for  the  formation  of  a  National  Bible  Society  in  the 
United  States,  and  gave  notice  of  a  general  meeting  to  be  held 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  8th  day  of  May  1816.  There 
were  then  one  hundred  and  thirty  local  societies. 

This  meeting  was  made  up  of  sixty  men  of  different  religious 
denominations,  and  from  widely  different  parts  of  the  country. 
The  constitution  which  was  adopted  stated  that  "the  sole  object 
of  the  Society  is  to  encourage  the  wider  circulation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment";  and  the  American  Bible 
Society,  of  New  York,  a  national  interdenominational  Bible 
Society,  was  organized. 

Of  this  meeting  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  in  his  recollec- 
tions of  it  years  after,  says  "it  was  a  meeting  of  selected  hearts, 
and  talents  and  influence,  and  of  sublime  humility,  wisdom  and 
prayer.  We  felt  that  the  place  where  we  stood  was  Holy  ground 
— that  God  was  there — and  although  the  delegates  were  from 
various  religious  denominations,  yet  they  were  of  one  heart  and 
of  one  mind  as  to  the  grand  object  of  the  convention.  Such  was 
the  harmony  of  the  proceedings  with  which  they  adopted  the 
constitution  of  a  National  Society,  as  to  inspire  the  livliest  emo- 
tions of  gratitude,  and  elicit  tears  of  joy  from  many  eyes." 

A  powerful  appeal  to  the  "Christians  of  America"  in  behalf  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  was  issued  from  the  press.  The  rich 
poured  their  offerings  into  its  treasury;  the  poor  gave  freely 
and  with  self-sacrificing  liberality;  the  churches  made  generous 
donations,  and  in  four  months'  time  the  National  Society  received 
more  money  than  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  received 
during  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence.  A  large  number  of 
state  and  local  Bible  Societies  became  its  auxiliaries. 

During  this  year  the  few  Bible  Societies  existing  in  the  country 
were  so  embarrassed  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  Bibles  and 


10  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Testaments  could  be  obtained.  Such  was  the  want  in  the  state 
that  Simeon  Ide,  a  young  man  twenty-two  years  of  age  of  New 
Ispwich,  printed  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament.  He  went  to 
Boston  with  a  team,  bought  a  hand  printing  press  and  a  font  of 
type,  brought  them  home  and  set  up  his  press  in  his  father's 
blacksmith  shop.  He  succeeded  in  getting  paper,  and  he  and 
his  sister,  twelve  years  of  age,  set  up  the  type  and  struck  off  an 
edition  of  five  thousand  New  Testaments  of  four  hundred  pages 
in  six  months.  That  the  edition  might  be  as  free  from  errors  as 
possible,  he  engaged  Rev.  Seth  Payson,  D.D.,  of  Rindge,  to  read 
the  proof  sheets,  and  as  there  was  only  type  enough  to  set  twelve 
pages  at  a  time,  he  walked  to  Payson's  home  in  Rindge  twice 
a  week  to  read  proof  with  him. 

Mr.  Ide  inserted  on  the  title  page  of  the  New  Testament, 
"Carefully  examined  and  corrected  by  Rev.  S.  Payson,  D.D." 
Some  of  the  Doctor's  friends  having  got  the  impression  that  he 
had  been  making  a  new  translation  of  the  Testament,  it  gave 
him  no  little  uneasiness.  To  relieve  him  of  this,  Mr.  Ide  printed 
the  words  "First  New  Ipswich  Edition,"  and  pasted  the  strip 
over  the  obnoxious  line  (see  page  78).  The  edition  bore  the 
imprint  of  1815.  In  1817  Mr.  Ide  removed  from  New  Ipswich 
and  subsequently  settled  in  Claremont  where  he  continued  the 
use  of  his  press  for  the  printing  of  the  Scriptures  until  1865. 
The  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  purchased  one  thousand 
copies  of  the  first  edition  in  1815  and  several  thousand  copies 
of  the  editions  of  1861  and  1865.  George  Hough,  treasurer  of  the 
Bible  Society,  also  printed  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament  dur- 
ing 1815. 

At  the  fifth  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  September  18^ 
1816,  Rev.  John  Kelley  was  elected  a  Vice-President,  and  the 
following  resolution  was  adopted:  "That  the  sum  of  Five  Hun- 
dred Dollars  be  remitted  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
one  half  of  said  sum  to  be  considered  as  a  donation  to  that  Insti- 
tution, the  other  moiety  to  be  repaid  in  Bibles. 

"And  that,  as  the  state  of  our  resources  may  from  time  to 
time  permit,  we  will  pour  of  our  gold  and  of  our  silver  into  this 
treasury  of  our  Lord;  and  that  we  shall  rejoice  to  be  enrolled 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  11 

among  the  number  of  those  societies  who  may  annually  con- 
tribute in  aid  of  that  noble  Institution." 

The  Board  of  Directors  voted,  That  the  Prudential  Committee 
direct  the  Treasurer  to  pay  the  money  which  had  been  appro- 
priated for  foreign  translation  of  the  Scriptures  (Five  Hundred 
Dollars)  as  they  shall  judge  most  advantageous  in  conformity 
with  the  wishes  of  the  donors,  and  to  pay  such  farther  sums  to 
the  Treasurer  of  the  American  Bible  Society  as  the  state  of,  our 
funds  may  admit. 

State  and  local  Bible  Societies  and  Missionary  Societies  of 
every  denomination,  at  home  and  in  foreign  lands,  were  then 
dependent  upon  the  American  Bible  Society  for  their  supply  of 
the  Scriptures  so  necessary  to  their  work. 

The  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  soon  began  to  purchase 
Bibles  of  the  American  Bible  Society  and  to  make  liberal  dona- 
tions to  it.  A  Bible  Society  was  formed  at  Dartmouth  College, 
in  1815 — in  a  time  of  great  rehgious  interest,  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  specially  present,  and  the  importance  of  the  Word 
of  God  was  deeply  felt.  A  dslegate  was  appointed  by  it  to  attend 
the  formation  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  He  failed  to  do  so, 
but  contributions  for  several  years  were  made  to  that  Institu- 
tion, and  afterward  to  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  of 
which  it  become  an  auxiliary. 

The  whole  number  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  purchased  by  the 
New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  to  date  was  6,200  copies. 

This  year  $400  was  appropriated  for  Bible  distribution  in  the 
South-western  portions  of  the  United  States.  One  half  of  this 
sum  was  sent  to  the  Louisiana  Bible  Society  and  the  other  half 
to  the  Connecticut  Reserve  Bible  Society.  Also  seven  hundred 
copies  of  the  Bible  were  purchased  in  Philadelphia  for  distribution 
in  other  remote  parts  of  our  country. 

At  the  sixth  annual  meeting  held  at  Exeter,  September  17, 
1817,  the  Hon.  Timothy  Farrar  declined  re-election,  and  it  was 
voted  that  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  presented  to  him  "for 
the  interest  he  has  taken  in  this  object,  and  the  aid  which  he  had 
afforded  in  promoting  the  design  of  this  Society." 

The  Hon.  Robert  Means,  of  Amherst,  was  elected  President, 
— the  other  officers  remaining  the  same.  The  membership  of 
the  Society  was  793. 


12  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

During  this  year  a  donation  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  sent 
to  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  one  hundred  twenty-two 
dollars  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  "for  pubHshing  the  Scriptures  in  the  languages  of  the 
heathen." 

The  seventh  annual  meeting  was  hald  at  Dover,  September 
16,  1818.  Prof.  Ebenezer  Adams,  of  Dartmouth  College,  was 
elected  President,  and  Dea.  Amos  Tappan,  a  Vice-President. 
During  the  six  years  of  the  Society's  existence,  $7,746.32  was 
raised  and  expended  in  Bible  distribution  in  this  state,  Maine, 
Ohio,  Michigan,  Louisiana  and  Canada. 

The  eighth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Hanover,  September 
22,  1819.  During  this  year  special  attention  was  given  to  the 
supply  of  the  state  prison  and  jails  of  the  state  with  Bibles,  and 
also  of  Forts  Constitution  and  McClary,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Harbor  at  Portsmouth,  and  provisions  were  made  for  the  supply 
of  seamen  at  that  port. 

The  Society  this  year  received  a  legacy  of  one  thousand  dol- 
lars from  Mrs.  Thankful  Shepard,  of  Alstead.  The  records  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  for  the  year  1817  show  that  a  legacy  was 
expected  and  the  following  action  was  taken: 

Voted,  "That  the  legacy,  when  received,  be  funded."  The 
next  year,  1818,  this  vote  was  reconsidered  and  annulled.  The 
Treasurer's  report  for  the  year  1819  shows  that  the  legacy  when 
received  was  expended, — part  as  a  donation  to  the  American 
Bible  Society  and  part  in  payment  for  Bibles.  The  following 
inscription  appears  on  the  head  stone  at  Mrs.  Shepard's  grave 
in  Alstead : 

Erected 
to  the  memory  of 
Mrs.  Thankful  Shepard, 
who  died  June  7,  A.  D.  1817. 
Age  71  years. 
ReUct  of  the  late 
Hon.  Amos  Shepard,  Esq. 

Not  merely  in  honor  of  the  deceased,  but  as  an  example  to  survivers,  it  ia 
here  recorded  that  in  her  last  will  she  gave  one  thousand  dollars  to  the  New 
Hampshire  Bible  Society,  and  the  same  sum  to  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Alstead,  of  which  she  was  a  member. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  13 

Quit  the  ills  of  earth  and  rise, 

Sister  Spirit,  to  the  skies; 
Here  behold  thy  Saviour's  face, 
Laud  his  love  and  sing  his  praise, 
And  see  on  earth  thy  bounty  spread  the  truth, 
Counsel  the  aged  and  enlighten  the  youth, 
And  as  successive  crowds  of  souls  appear. 
To  meet  and  thank  their  Benefactor  there. 
If  God  should  bless  my  mite 
To  raise  one  soul  to  Heaven, 
To  Him  be  all  the  gratitude 
And  glory  given. 

The  ninth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  September 
20,  1820.  Hon.  David  L.  Morrill  and  Joseph  Haven  were  elected 
Vice-Presidents.  This  meeting  was  saddened  by  the  notice  of 
the  death  of  the  Hon.  John  Langdon,  the  first  President  of  the 
Society,  and  also  the  death  of  Rev.  Seth  Payson,  D.D.,  the  first 
Vice-President. 

Gov.  John  Langdon  held  the  office  of  President  of  the  Society 
until  he  declined  re-election,  and  was  the  Society's  largest  bene- 
factor. "Knowing,"  as  the  report  of  the  year  states,  "by  happy 
experience  the  preciousness  of  the  Gospel,  he  was  desirous  that 
his  fellowmen  should  enjoy  the  same  blessing."  He  was  also 
Vice-President  of  the  American  Bible  Society  and  a  liberal  sup- 
porter of  its  work. 

Rev.  Dr.  Payson  continued  in  office  to  the  time  of  his  death 
and  was  an  efficient  promoter  of  the  interests  of  the  Society. 

It  was  voted  that  the  annual  meeting  be  held  during  the  first 
week  of  September,  provided  that  the  General  Association  and 
Missionary  Society  concur  in  the  change.  It  was  also  voted  "to 
request  the  Trustees  of  the  New  Hampshire  Missionary  Society 
to  let  their  missionaries  distribute  Bibles  and  Testaments  for 
this  Society." 

Three  young  men  from  the  seminary  at  Andover,  Mass.  were 
employed  in  canvass  work  and  the  collection  of  funds.  Also 
Dea.  Nathaniel  Cross,  from  Portland,  Me.,  was  employed  in  the 
eastern  and  northern  parts  of  the  state. 

The  tenth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  New  Ipswich,  September 
29,  1821.  Hon.  Edmund  Parker  was  elected  Vice-President  and 
Nathaniel  Abbott,  of  Concord,  Treasurer. 


14  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

During  the  year  of  1822  the  Society  received  a  donation  of 
five  hundred  dollars  from  Samuel  Hutchinson,  of  Alstead. 
The  amount  of  donations  received  during  the  year  was  $732.00, 
seven  hundred  dollars  of  which  was  sent  as  a  donation  to  the 
American  Bible  Society. 

The  twelfth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Ac  worth,  September 
3,  1823.     Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  D.D.,  was  elected  a  Vice-President. 

The  thirteenth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Londonderry, 
September  8,  1824.  Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  at  Amherst,  N.  H.,  and  afterward  Presi- 
dent of  Dartmouth  College,  was  elected  Secretary.  In  an  address 
at  the  meeting,  he  urged  the  organization  of  Ladies'  Bible  Asso- 
ciations, and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  hears  with  pecuUar  pleasure  of  the 
formation  and  utility  of  Bible  Associations,  expecially  among 
females,  and  earnestly  hopes  that  they  may  be  formed  in  every 
town  in  New  Hampshire,  and  be  the  means  of  promoting  the 
circulation  of  the  Bible  extensively  throughout  the  state,  through- 
out the  country  and  throughout  the  world. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  immediately 
following  the  adjournment  of  the  annual  meeting,  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  take  some  more  efficient 
measures  than  have  been  taken  to  increase  the  funds  of  this 
Society;  and  that  the  Prudential  Committee  of  this  Board  be 
requested  by  agent  or  otherwise,  to  open  a  subscription  in  each 
town  in  this  state,  to  form  as  extensively  as  may  be  Ladies'  Aux- 
iliary Bible  Associations,  and  to  adopt  such  other  measures  as 
in  their  discretion  shall  judg3  suitable  to  secure  the  above  object. 

This  resolution  was  immediately  carried  into  effect  and  two 
years  later  there  were  fifty-one  female  Bible  Associations  in  the 
state  auxihary  to  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society.  In  1828, 
there  were  138  societies,  and  122  local  agents  working  in  the 
state.  County  Bible  Societies  were  also  organized,  in  Cheshire, 
Strafford,  Grafton  and  Sullivan  Counties*  The  towns  of  New 
Hampshire  were  divided  into  fifty-one  districts  and  to  each 
district  was  assigned  a  clergyman  who  was  to  visit  the  churches 
in  the  interest  of  Bible  work,  to  assemble  and  encourage  Ladies' 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  15 

Associations,  to  revive  languished  ones,  to  organize  new  ones, 
and  to  ascertain  whether  the  destitute  had  in  all  cases  besn 
searched  out  and  supplied. 

At  the  fifteenth  annual  meeting  held  at  Durham,  September 
26,  1826,  Rev.  Charles  Burroughs  was  elected  Vice-President. 

The  sixteenth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Rindge,  September 
5,  1827,  and  we  find  the  following  record.  "Paid  post  riders 
and  stage  drivers  for  distributing  Bibles  and  Testaments,  $9.12," 

At  the  seventeenth  annual  meeting  held  at  Salisbury,  Septem- 
ber 3,  1828,  Rev.  Daniel  Lancaster,  of  Gilmanton,  was  elected 
Secretary  of  the  Society,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  entertains  a  very  grateful  sense 
of  the  distinguished  zeal  and  assiduity  with  which  the  Female 
Auxiliary  Associations  have  engaged  in  the  work  of  supplying 
the  destitute  poor  with  the  Word  of  God. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  at  Newport,  September  2,  1829, 
Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D.,  was  elected  a  Vice-President.  The 
Society  voted  to  approve  the  resolution  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  to  furnish  every  destitute  family  in  the  United  States 
with  a  copy  of  the  Bible  within  two  years,  and  also  voted  to  give 
that  Society  a  pledge  of  twelve  thousand  dollars  to  aid  in  carry- 
ing the  above  resolution  into  effect.  At  this  meeting  a  number 
of  persons  became  life  members  by  the  payment  of  thirty  dol- 
lars. A  collection  of  $204.78  was  taken,  and  with  pledges,  a 
total  of  $1,075.00  was  received. 

In  1830  Mr.  Asaph  Evans  was  elected  Treasurer  of  this  Society, 
and  County  Bible  Societies  were  organized  in  Rockingham  and 
Grafton  Counties. 

The  Twentieth  Annive  rsary  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society  was  held  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  September  7,  1831,  and 
furnished  opportunity  for  pleasing  congratulations  and  joyful 
retrospect.  The  Secretary  says,  "The  history  of  the  first  twenty 
years  of  our  labors  exhibits  many  luminous  pages,  which,  like 
those  of  the  sacred  volume  we  are  engaged  in  circulating,  cheer 


16  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

and  animate  us  with  brighter  and  more  exalted  hopes.  Few, 
comparatively,  are  the  mournful  shades  cast  over  the  picture. 
While  Langdon  and  Means,  among  its  Presidents,  and  Payson, 
Tappan  and  Haven,  among  its  Vice-Presidents,  have  gone  to 
receive  their  reward,  a  large  proportion  of  the  early  friends  and 
supporters  of  this  Society  still  survive  to  witness  its  prosperity, 
and  anticipate  the  consummation  of  its  designs." 

The  report  of  the  year  has  this  interesting  paragraph,  "In  all 
parts  of  the  state  the  unusual  attention  to  -protracted  meetin<jS  has 
diverted  the  mind  in  some  measure  from  the  customary  col- 
lections for  this  object.  But  we  rejoice  in  the  fact,  hailing  it  as 
a  sure  harbinger,  that  the  happy  fruits  resulting  from  these 
meetings  will  be  seen  in  future  years,  in  a  very  great  increase  of 
contributions  to  our  funds." 

During  the  year  there  were  issued  from  the  Depository,  770 
Bibles  and  957  Testaments,  making  a  total  of  22,335  Bibles  and 
14,192  Testaments  issued  by  the  Society  since  its  formation. 

At  the  twenty-first  annual  meeting  held  at  Amherst,  September 
5,  1832,  after  a  season  of  prayer,  the  sum  of  $1,042.00  was  pledged; 
and  in  1833,  $3,000.00  paid  to  the  American  Society. 

At  the  twenty-second  annual  meeting  held  at  Keene,  September 
4,  1833,  Hon.  Joel  Parker,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  Rev.  Isaac  W.  Putnam,  D.D.,  were  elected  Vice- 
Presidents.     The  records  of  the  meeting  read: 

On  motion  by  Rev.  George  Shepard,  Agent  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  seconded  by  the  Rev.  Henry  G.  Ludlow  of  New 
York  City,  Resolved,  That  this  Society  view  with  gratitude 
to  God  the  recent  openings  in  different  parts  of  the  unevangel- 
ized  nations  for  the  circulation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  that 
we  pledge  our  efficient  co-operation  in  sustaining  the  American 
Bible  Society  in  their  recent  resolution  to  go  forward  with 
redoubled  ardor  in  their  work,  in  concert  with  other  National 
Bible  Societies,  until  the  whole  world  is  supplied  with  the  Word 
of  Tife. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  tw^enty-three  persons 
pledged  to  become  fife  members  of  the  Society,  and  an  offering 
of  $155.71,  a  gold  watch,  and  several  articles  of  jewelry  was 
received. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  17 

In  1834  His  Excellency  Gov.  William  Badger  was  elected  Mce- 
President,  and  in  1835  Rev.  John  Wood. 

At  th3  twenty-fifth  annual  meeting  held  at  Exeter,  August  31, 
1836,  it  was  reported  that  in  the  twenty  years  since  the  forma- 
tion of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society  had  paid  into  its  treasury  as  donations  $16,922.18,  and 
for  the  purchase  of  books  $18,949.66,  and  that  $42,273.41  had 
been  expended  in  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures.  This  year 
the  mountain  and  seashore  hotels  were  furnished  with  Bibles  by 
the  Society. 

The  twenty-seventh  annual  meeting  was  held  at  New  Ipswich, 
August  29,  1838.  Rev.  Zedekiah  S.  Barstow  was  elected  a  Vice- 
President  and  Dr.  Thomas  Chadbourne,  of  Concord,  Treasurer. 
The  Board  of  Directors  voted  that  the  Prudential  Committee 
be  instructed  to  correspond  with  the  several  ministerial  asso- 
ciations and  urge  them  to  act  as  agents  or  devise  efficient  mea- 
sures to  increase  the  funds  of  the  Society. 

The  Secretary's  report  for  1839  says,  "Within  ten  y^ars  this 
Society  has  investigated  the  whole  ground  within  the  limit  of 
the  state  and  caused  every  family  to  be  supplied  with  the  Bible, 
who  would  receive  it.  The  children  between  eight  and  sixteen 
have  been  given  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament;  a  copy  of  the 
Bible  has  been  placed  in  every  cell  in  the  State  Prison;  the  alms 
houses  furnished;  and  a  Bible  placed  in  the  sleeping  rooms  of 
the  hotels  of  the  state;  and  we  are  now  to  attempt  a  second 
general  supply  of  New  Hampshire  with  the  Bible." 

The  report  for  1840  records  the  death  of  Prof.  Ebenezer  Adams, 
for  twenty-three  years  President  of  the  Society.  He  manifested 
his  zeal  for  the  cause  by  a  prompt  fidelity  in  the  performance  of 
duty.  Even  with  the  care  of  college  work,  he  gave  prompt  atten- 
tion to  the  duties  of  his  oflfice.  Also  the  death  of  Rev.  John  H. 
Church,  D.D.  His  life  was  a  bright  exhibition  of  whatever  is 
kind  and  excellent  in  man;  and  to  his  piety,  and  talents,  and  emi- 
nent services,  all  who  knew  him  spontaneously  unite  in  bearing 
honorable  testimony.  He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Soci- 
ety, for  eleven  years  its  Secretary,  and  for  more  than  a  quarter 


18  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

of  a  century,  one  of  its  principal  managers  and  officers.  It  also 
records  the  resignation  of  Rev.  Daniel  Lancaster,  and  the  elec- 
tion of  Rev.  Joseph  Lane,  of  Gilmanton,  as  Secretary  of  the  Soci- 
ety. 

The  thirtieth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Francestown,  August 
25,  184L  Dr.  Daniel  Adams,  of  Mont  Vernon,  was  elected 
President,  and  Hon.  John  Folsom,  a  Vice-President.  There 
were  appointed  143  local  agents  to  work  in  the  towns  of  the  state. 
The  slesping  rooms  of  hotels  and  sailors'  boarding  houses  in  Ports- 
mouth were  supplied  with  Bibles.  Jonathan  Cummings,  of 
Plymouth,  was  employed  as  an  agent  in  Coos  County  and  he 
reported  134  destitute  families,  and  1,100  Bibles  and  Testaments 
disposed  of  in  the  County.  The  report  of  this  year  states  that 
since  its  organization  there  have  been  sent  out  from  its  Deposi- 
tory 32,442  Bibles  and  38,008  Testaments,  making  a  total  of 
70,450  copies;  and  that  a  local  Depository  was  established  in  the 
city  of  Portsmouth. 

During  1842  the  merchant  and  fishing  vessels  sailing  from 
Portsmouth  were  supphed  with  Bibles;  also  the  public  houses 
and  sailors'  boarding  houses. 

During  1844  a  donation  of  $3,042.00  was  paid  to  the  American 
Bible  Society.  Local  Depositories  were  opened  in  the  Custom 
House,  and  in  the  Seaman's  Home  at  Portsmouth,  and  also  in 
Newcastle. 

During  1845  th3  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  received  a 
legacy  of  one  thousand  dollars  from  Horace  Appleton  Haven, 
of  Portsmouth;  and  a  donation  of  $2,530.00  was  made  to  the 
American  Bible  Society. 

The  records  of  1846  show  the  following:  "By  the  munificence 
of  a  lady  in  Concord,  a  package  of  Bibles  has  been  sent  to  the 
White  Mountain  House,  another  to  the  Notch  House,  and 
another  to  the  La  Fayetts  House  at  the  Franconia  Notch,  for 
the  purpose  of  supplying  the  sleeping  rooms  of  these  houses." 

The  thirty-sixth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Meredith,  August 
25,  1847.     Gen.  Robert  Davis  was  elected  a  Vice-President,  and 


Rev.  Ebenezer  E.  Cummings, 

Vice-President,  1866-1880. 


D.D. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  19 

Rev.  Joseph  Lane,  having  received  an  appointment  as  agent 
of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  New  Hampshire,  entered  upon 
his  duties  in  Jul}-. 

During  1848  Merrimack  County  was  canvassed,  283  families 
were  found  destitute  and  2,300  Bibles  and  Testaments  put  in 
the  hands  of  the  needy.  In  Rockingham  County  3,907  Bibles 
and  Testaments  were  distributed.  In  Sullivan  County  519 
copies  were  sold.  In  Carroll  County  206  families  were  found 
destitute  and  1,361  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  sold  and  donated. 
Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  of  Campton,  was  appointed  an  agent 
of  Grafton  County,  and  visited  428  families  and  disposed  of 
325  copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

During  1849  Strafford  County  was  canvassed  by  Dea.  John 
S.  R.  Brown;  Grafton  County  by  Dea.  William  G.  Brown; 
Hillsborough  County  by  Rev.  Amos  Abbott  and  Rev.  John  Jones; 
and  Sulhvan  County  by  Rev.  Chester  W.  Levings.  In  all 
24,008  families  were  visited,  828  destitute  families  found,  and 
9,231  copies  of  the  Scriptures  placed  in  circulation.  During  the 
year  a  donation  of  S2,528.56  was  sent  to  the  American  Bible 
Society. 

The  thirty-ninth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Great"  Falls, 
August  28,  ]850.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D.,  was  elected  a 
Vice-President.  On  account  of  the  feeble  health  of  the  Secre- 
tary, Rev.  Joseph  Lane,  Rev.  Isaac  Willey,  of  Goffstown,  was 
elected  to  the  office  and  Henry  A.  Newhall,  of  Concord,  Treas- 
urer. Rev.  Joseph  Lane  died  September  27,  at  the  age  of  53. 
His  life  had  been  active  and  eventful.  He  was  first  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  among  the  Tuscarora  Indians;  for  a  time 
acting  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Franklin;  the 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Churches  at  Meredith  and  Center 
Harbor;  Agent  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  in  Kentucky; 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Westbrook,  Me.;  acting 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Farmington;  Agent  of 
the  American  Tract  Society;  Agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
in  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  for  three  years;  Agent 
of  the  Bible  Society  of  Maine;  and  Secretary  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Bible  Society  from  1841  to  1850.     He  is  said  to  have  been 


20  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  as  a  public  speaker,  and  his 
course  was  marked  by  great  earnestness,  simplicity  and  self- 
denial.  Much  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christian 
benevobnce. 

This  year  thirty-one  towns  were  canvassed,  268  families  found 
destitute,  and  a  donation  of  $2,839.37  was  made  to  the  American 
Bible  Society. 

At  the  fortieth  annual  meeting  held  at  Acworth,  August  27^ 
1851,  the  subject  of  changing  the  time  and  place  of  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Society  came  up  for  consideration.  It  had  always 
been  held  in  connection  with  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  Churches.  The  Society  was  de- 
signed to  include  all  denominations  of  Christians  in  the  state, 
but  ths  men  who  estabhshed  it  and  had  sustained  it  from  the 
beginning  being  of  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  denom- 
inations, the  anniversary  meetings  of  the  Society  had  been  held 
in  connection  with  the  religious  gatherings  of  these  denomina- 
tions. With  a  view  to  extending  the  usefulness  of  the  Society 
and  of  inviting  to  the  annual  meeting  all  friends  of  the  Bible 
cause,  it  was. 

Voted,  That  the  annual  meeting  of  this  Society  be  established 
at  Concord,  on  the  Thursday  following  the  first  Wednesday  of 
June  of  each  year,  at  10  o'clock  A.  M. 

It  was  also  voted.  That  the  Secretary  extend  an  invitation  to 
the  friends  of  the  Bible  cause  throughout  the  state  to  meet  with 
the  Society. 

The  change  in  the  time  and  place  of  holding  the  annual  meeting, 
however,  did  not  take  place  for  ten  years. 

The  Bible  Society  Record,  a  paper  published  monthly  by  the 
American  Bible  Society,  was  furnished  gratuitously  to  each 
minister  in  the  state  co-operating  with  the  Society,  a  custom 
which  was  been  continued  to  the  present  time. 

The  following  persons  were  employed  by  the  Society  during 
the  year  for  canvass  work.  Rev.  Robert  Page,  Rev.  Amos 
Abbott,  Rev.  Ezra  Newton,  Dea.  WiUiam  G.  Brown,  and  Mr. 
David  Parmenter.  Forty-five  towns  were  canvassed  during 
1850,  7,287  families  visited,  327  found  destitute,  and  3,954  copies 
of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation.  The  sleeping  rooms  of 
the  Crawford  House  at  the  White  Mountains  and  the  hotel  at 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  21 

Hillsborough  Bridge  were  supplied  with  Bibles,  and  $3,316.06 
forwarded  to  the  American  Bible  Society  of  which  $207.33  came 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  of  New  Hampshire. 

During  the  year  the  Society  received  legacies  as  follows: 
from  Miss  Elizabeth  Jewett,  of  Hollis,  $600;  from  Miss  Mary 
Bartlett,  of  Campton,  $180.35;  from  Miss  Hannah  Adams,  of 
Rindge,  $100;  and  from  Miss  Sarah  Gibson,  of  New  Ipswich,  $25. 

At  the  fifty-first  annual  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church  at  Pittsfield,  August  25,  1852,  Rev.  Nathan 
Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Samuel  Fletcher,  and  Richard  Boylston, 
were  elected  Vice-Presidents. 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  there  is  special  need  this  day  for  exhorting  all, 
even  Christians,  to  more  reading  of  the  Bible. 

Resolved,  That  no  instrumentality  can  bring  God  so  intelli- 
gibly near  to  the  soul,  and  give  the  Christian  virtues  their  appro- 
priate dignity  and  grace,  as  the  earnest  and  continuous  study  of 
the  Bible,  and  that  very  much  in  proportion  to  our  habitual  famil- 
iarity with  the  Word  of  God,  as  a  chrect  and  constant  source  of 
Christian  knowledge,  consolation  and  hope,  will  be  the  strength 
of  our  faith  and  the  efficiency  of  our  Christian  influence. 

The  sentiment  of  the  resolutions  was  illustrated  by  the  case  of 
an  old  man  who  learned  to  read  after  he  was  eighty  years  old,  and 
the  efficacy  of  the  Word  of  God  upon  his  mind. 

In  1853  Rev.  Isaac  Willey,  Secretary  of  the  Society,  received 
an  appointment  as  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  Maine, 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont.  Eighty-five  towns  were  reported 
as  canvassed  in  1852,  19,002  families  visited,  1,041  found  destitute, 
and  11,254  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation.  On  the 
12th  day  of  May  a  special  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  at  New- 
port in  connection  with  the  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Churches  of  New  Hampshire. 

The  forty-third  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Derry,  August  25, 
1854,  and  Rev.  Benjamin  P.  Stone,  D.  D.,  was  elected  Treasurer. 
During  the  year  12,775  famihcs  were  visited,  390  found  destitute, 
7,837  copies  of  the  Scriptures  circulated,  and  there  was  a  general 
refurnishing  of  the  public  houses,  railroad  stations,  passenger  and 
freight  trains  with  Bibles.     Since  the  formation  of  the  Society 


22  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

161,646  copies  of  the  Scriptures  had  been  distributed  by  it  in  the 
state. 

The  forty-fourth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Concord,  August 
29,  1855.  Rev.  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  elected  a  Vice-President. 

Within  the  preceding  five  years  the  state  had  been  canvassed 
by  faithful  men.  They  sold  26,174  Bibles  at  cost,  donated  5,225 
copies  to  the  needy,  visited  57,784  families  out  of  the  64,000  in  the 
state  and  found  2,291  families  destitute.  Dea. William  G.  Brown 
says,  "During  this  year  (1854-5)  I  visited  30  towns  and  cities. 
Soon  after  the  4th  of  July,  1854,  a  report  was  circulated  that  the 
Catholics  in  Manchester  had  destroyed  their  Bibles.  To  ascer- 
tain the  truth  of  this,  I  spent  two  days  in  September  calling  upon 
Catholic  families.  It  was  apparent  that  in  a  very  few  cases 
Bibles  had  been  put  away  or  kept  out  of  sight ;  but  I  found  many 
Bibles  and  Testaments  that  had  been  left  with  them  during  the 
two  previous  years.  Some  were  kept  out  of  sight  and  others  were 
kept  locked  up.  In  one  instance,  a  Catholic  lady  said  they  had  no 
Bible  and  didn't  want  one.  After  conversing  with  her  for  a  short 
time,  she  unlocked  her  trunk,  and  took  out  a  Bible  I  had  given 
her  the  previous  year.  The  reason  she  assigned  for  saying  she 
had  no  Bible  was  that  she  was  afraid  I  was  a  spy  sent  out  to  get 
the" Bible.  To  my  inquiring  whether  she  read  it,  she  rephed  that 
she  did,  and  also  her  CathoHc  Bible.  'Which  do  you  like  best?' 
said  I.  'I  don't  think  there  is  much  difference,'  she  replied.  One 
fact  is  very  apparent,  and  it  is  one  I  wish  to  notice  in  this  con- 
nection. It  is  this,  that  I  found  the  Catholics  in  Manchester  the 
present  year  much  better  supplied  with  the  Catholic  Bible  than 
ever  before,  and  I  think  there  is  no  other  city  in  the  United  States 
of  the  same  population  where  a  less  destitution  of  the  Scriptures 
can  be  found  among  the  native  families.  Of  2,200  families,  only 
one  was  found  destitute."  Dea.  Brown  adds,  "In  one  town 
where  the  people  generally  attended  church,  I  was  told  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church  that  I  shouldn't  do  anything  there  with  Bibles, 
for  everybody  had  them  and  enough  of  them,  too.  In  that  town 
I  found  five  families  without  a  Bible,  and  sold  250  copies." 

The  reports  of  1855-56-57  show  31,441  families  visited  and 
789  destitute,  and  14,029  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circu- 
lation. 


Hon.  Edward  Spalding. 

President,  1860-1895. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  23 

The  forty-eighth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Boscawen,  August 
24,  1859,  and  Hon.  Lyman  D.  Stevens  was  elected  a  Vice- 
President.  The  Directors  voted  that  the  Secretary  bring  before 
the  Society  at  its  next  meeting  the  question  of  amending  the  Con- 
stitution so  that  its  annual  meeting  may  be  held  at  a  different 
time  and  place  from  that  now  fixed. 

The  forty-ninth  meeting  was  held  at  Claremont,  August  29, 
1860.  Dr.  Daniel  Adams,  after  faithful  service  of  nineteen  years, 
declined  re-election,  and  the  Hon.  Edward  Spalding,  M.D.,  of 
Nashua,  was  elected  to  succeed  him  in  the  office,  and  the  Hon. 
Matthew  Harvey  a  Vice-President.  The  following  resolution 
was  adopted: 

Resolved,  that  this  Society  has  heard  with  regret  the  remarks 
of  its  President,  Hon.  Daniel  Adams,  tendering  his  resignation 
of  the  office  which  he  has  held  so  many  years  to  the  satisfaction 
of  its  friends,  and  to  the  evident  advantage  of  the  Bible  cause. 
In  accepting  his  resignation  we  hereby  tender  him  our  sincere 
thanks,  and  assure  him  in  his  retirement  he  is  accompanied  by 
our  continued  sympathy  and  high  respect. 

Though  eighty-eight  years  of  age,  he  retired  to  revise  and 
print  a  new  edition  of  Adams'  Arithmetic. 

It  was  voted  to  supply  again  the  railroad  stations  of  the  state 
with  Bibles.  It  was  also  voted  to  admit  delegates  from  County 
Bible  Societies. 

The  fiftieth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Portsmouth,  August 
28,  1861.  A  semi-centennial  address  was  delivered  by  the  Rev. 
Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  president  of  Dartmouth  College, 
and  the  following  was  voted:  "That  the  thanks  of  this  Society 
be  presented  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lord  for  the  learned  and  eloquent 
address  delivered  by  him  this  day  on  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  this  Society." 

The  records  say  "That  the  men  who  were  moved  by  its  principles 
in  the  formation  of  the  Society  have  passed  away;  not  one  sur- 
vives, but  the  work  goes  on.  The  issues  from  the  Depository  of 
the  Society  from  its  formation  to  the  present  time  were  210,865 
copies  of  the  Scriptures."  The  times  through  which  the  Society 
was  then  passing  were  hard.  The  country  was  in  a  state  of  war- 
fare and  its  business  had,  to  a  great  extent,  been  suspended,  but 


24  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

war  or  business  depression  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  hindrance 
to  its  work.  The  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd  regiments  from  this  state 
were  suppUed,  and  the  Society  was  ready  to  supply  others  as  they 
should  leave  for  the  seat  of  war.  For  this  purpose  the  American 
Bible  Society  prepared  a  "Soldiers'  Bible," — comprising  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Psalms, — weighing  two  ounces.  Care  was 
taken  to  supply  recruits  and  to  re-supply  regiments  when  needed. 
Bibles  were  also  forwarded  to  Hon.  Daniel  Clark,  then  a  Senator 
in  Congress,  for  supplying  New  Hampshire  men  in  the  hospitals 
near  Washington.  Other  means  were  taken  to  re-supply  our 
men  in  the  army  and  in  other  hospitals.  It  has  been  said  that  no 
army  was  ever  so  well  supplied  with  the  Scriptures  as  our  own  in 
the  Civil  War.  A  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  representative 
followed  the  regiments  as  they  moved  from  one  camp  to  another. 
To  the  sick  and  wounded  the  Scriptures  were  of  inestimable  value. 
A  Bible  was  found  lying  open  on  the  breast  of  a  soldier  who  had 
died,  with  a  leaf  turned  down  where  he  had  last  read. 

Hospitals,  where  the  sick  and  wounded  were  gathered  by  the 
thousands,  were  places  of  deep  interest  to  the  Bible  colporteur. 
Rev.  John  A.  Hamilton,  Chaplain  of  the  Sixth  H.  N.  Regiment, 
wrote  as  follows:  ''My  attention  is  turned  to  the  supply  of  my 
regiment  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  many  of  our  soldiers 
were  found  destitute." 

In  1862  ten  United  States  vessels  were  supplied,  and  in  1864 
fourteen  vessels,  and  in  the  same  year  four  Russian  vessels  re- 
ceived 331  Bibles  in  their  own  language  as  a  gift  from  this  Society. 

These  cases  are  given  to  show  the  continued  and  untiring  work 
of  the  Society.  In  a  single  year  27,278  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
wer a  disposed  of  in  this  manner.  The  supply  of  prisoners  of  war 
with  the  Bible  was  everywhere  attended  to.  The  sick  and  the 
wounded  from  the  enemy  shared  in  all  the  treatment  and  care  of 
our  hospitals.  A  chaplain  in  his  rounds  through  the  wards  of  a 
hospital  noticed  a  Colonel  from  the  Confederate  army  who  ap- 
peared to  be  suffering  and  inquired  if  he  could  do  anything  for 
him.  The  Colonel's  reply  was  "Nothing,"  although  it  was 
apparent  he  was  failing.  The  chaplain  wiped  the  sweat  from  his 
brow,  furnished  him  with  gruel,  and  did  other  acts  for  his  com- 
fort. In  expressing  his  gratitude  he  added,  "You  Yankees  are 
the  strangest  people  I  ever  heard  of.  You  fight  us  like  devils, 
but  when  we  are  in  want,  you  are  angels  of  mercy." 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  25 

The  American  Bible  Society  resolved  that  "While  we  as  Chris- 
tians acknowledge  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  bond  of  union,  no 
dissension  shall  deter  us  from  spreading  the  Gospel  of  Truth  over 
every  section  of  our  afflicted  land." 

It  is  said  that  Gen.  Butler  once  objected  to  the  passing,  of  more 
than  a  thousand  copies  of  the  Scriptures  through  the  lines,  be- 
cause he  thought  that  number  of  copies  ought  to  supply  the  Con- 
federate army.  Yet  during  the  years  of  the  war,  not  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  thousand  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
were  permitted  to  pass  through  our  lines  as  donations  to  the 
Southern  army;  and  these  were  largely,  if  not  wholly,  supplied 
by  the  American  Bible  Society. 

During  the  war,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  fearing 
t  hat  by  the  extended  operations  of  the  American  Bible  Society  it 
might  become  embarrassed,  proposed  to  aid  the  Society  to  the 
extent  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  reply  of  the  Directors 
was  to  the  effect  that  such  embarrassment  was  not  anticipated, 
but  that  should  it  occur,  they  would  gratefully  accept  the  prof- 
fered aid.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  notwithstanding  the  large 
supply  of  our  own  and  the  Confederate  armies,  the  Directors  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  made,  a  donation  to  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  of  a  sst  of  electrotype  plates  for  the  Arabic 
Bible  of  the  value  of  forty  thousand  dollars. 

For  the  first  time  in  its  history,  August  27,  1862,  the  New 
Hampshire  Bibla  Society  held  its  annual  meeting  apart  from  the 
General  Association  of  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  New  Hampshire.  It  was  held  in  the  South  Congregational 
Church  in  Concord,  and  the  following  vote  was  passed:  "That 
until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Society,  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Society  be  held  at  some  other  time  and  place  than  that  with  the 
meetings  of  the  General  Association  of  this  State."  Auxihary 
County  Bible  Society  delegates  were  admitted,  also  representa- 
tives from  other  religious  bodies.  Five  additional  regiments  were 
supplied  with  Bibles,  making  eight  in  all,  and  nine  separate  com- 
panies.    The  number  of  copies  disposed  of  was  6,419. 

At  Portsmouth  Harbor  the  following  United  States  ships  were 
supplied:  Kearsarge,  Macedonia,  Marion,  Dale,  Constellalion, 
Conamaugh,  Sebago,  Mahusha,  and  Sonoma. 


26  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

The  fifty-second  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church,  Concord,  June  26,  1863,  and  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Bouton,  D.D.  was  elected  Vice  President.  The  time  of  holding 
the  annual  meeting  having  been  changed  from  September  to  June, 
the  report,  which  is  called  an  annual  report,  covered  but  little 
over  eight  months.  This  change  of  date,  together  with  the  fact 
that  the  first  annual  meeting  was  held  four  months  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Society  accounts  for  the  holding  of  the  fifty- 
second  annual  meeting  at  the  close  of  the  fifty-first  j'ear  of  the 
Society's  existence  and  work,  and  also  for  the  holding  of  the  semi- 
centennial of  the  Society  of  the  close  of  the  forty-ninth  year. 

During  this  year  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  opened  a 
Depository  in  the  City  of  Washington,  in  the  room  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  for  the  re-supply  of  the  New 
Hampshire  regiments  at  the  front;  but  this  work  was  soon  trans- 
ferred to  the  Christian  Commission. 

Seventeen  hundred  dollars  was  donated  to  the  American 
Bible  Society,  and  two  hundred  ninety-five  dollars  to  the 
Massachusetts  Bible  Society.  At  the  navy  yard  at  Portsmouth, 
twelve  vessels  wers  built,  one  an  iron-clad;  twelve  of  the  largest 
in  our  navy  were  repaired;  from  1,500  to  2,  500  men  were  employed, 
and  every  vessel  which  left  the  harbor  was  supplied  with  the 
Scriptures.  There  were  then  thirteen  County  Bible  Societies  auxil- 
iary to  the  Society  in  this  state,  as  follows;  one  each  in  the  Coun- 
ties of  Strafford,  Cheshire,  Sullivan,  Belknap  and  Carroll;  and 
two  each  in  the  Counties  of  Rockingham,  Hillsborough,  Grafton 
and  Coos. 

Items  of  interest  during  1864  were  the  following:  Supplies 
were  made  to  our  National  ships;  Ossipee  (137  men),  Fernan- 
dina,  St.  Lawrence  (150  men),  Nipsic,  Agawam  (150  men),  Ala- 
bama (200  men).  Pioneer,  Undalia,  New  Hampshire  (74  guns) 
with  1100  men,  two  hundred  of  whom  were  enhsted  in  our  navy 
after  service  in  the  Confederate  navy  and  three  hundred  were 
contraband.  Forts  Sullivan  and  Constitution,  with  the  hospi- 
tals, were  supplied;  also  the  merchant  ships  Silma  and  Daniel 
Marcey. 

In  1865  there  were  found  in  the  Harbor  of  Portsmouth  to  be 
re-supplied  with  the  Scriptures  the  warships  New  Hampshire, 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  27 

Agawam,  Alabama,  and  Colorado  with  650  men;  also  new  troops 
at  the  forts,  and  freemen  at  the  Navy  Yard.  The  mihtary  hos- 
pitals in  the  City  of  Manchester  were  supplied,  and  besides  the 
usual  amount  of  work  was  done  in  the  state.  During  the  j^ear, 
seven  thousand  families  were  visited,  two  hundred  were  found 
destitute,  and  all  who  would  receive  the  Bible  were  supplied. 

In  1866  occurred  the  death  of  Hon.  Matthew  Harvey,  Ex- 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire  and  District  Judge  of  the  United 
States  Court,  also  Vice-President  of  this  Society.  The  records 
show  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  we  cherish  with  profound  respect  the  memory 
of  the  late  Hon.  Matthew  Harvey,  Senior  Vice-President  of  this 
Society;  that  we  recognize  the  good  providence  of  God  in  his  long, 
peaceful  and  useful  life;  that  as  a  member  of  this  Society  through 
the  period  of  about  fifty  years,  his  work  of  charity  and  piety 
evinced  his  faith  in  the  Word  of  God;  and  his  death  fulfilled  the 
Scripture.  ''Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a 
shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his  season." 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  June  19,  Rev.  Eben- 
ezer  E.  Cummings,  D.D.  was  elected  Vice-President.  Addresses 
were  made  by  His  Excellency  Gov.  Frederick  Smythe,  by  Rev. 
WiUiam  Butler,  D.D.,  a  minister  from  India,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hart- 
well,  a  missionary  from  China,  and  by  Samo,  a  Chinese.  The 
income  of  the  Society  for  the  year  was  $10,070.92,  and  5,758 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  received  from  New  York. 

During  the  year  1867,  11,985  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  dis- 
posed of  in  the  canvass  work  of  the  state.  Within  two  years 
24,808  copies  were  sent  out  from  the  Depository,  and  thirty-nine 
persons  were  engaged  in  the  work.  More  than  twenty  thousand 
families  were  visited  and  721  found  destitute. 

The  fifty-seventh  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Concord,  June  16, 
1868,  and  was  addressed  by  Dr.  Edward  Aiken,  of  Amherst, 
formerly  connected  with  the  Syrian  Mission  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  a  life  member 
of  this  Society.  He  gave  an  account  of  the  translation  and 
printing  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  the  Arabic  tongue  for  the  use 
of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  Mohammedans  who  speak 


28  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

and  read  that  language;  also  of  the  labors  of  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  the 
principal  agent  in  the  work,  and  of  the  closing  scene  of  his  life, 
which  he  was  permitted  to  witness.  Of  this  closing  incident  he 
said,  "As  Dr.  Smith's  health  declined  and  he  was  unable  to  ride, 
his  study  was  transferred  first  to  his  house  and  then  to  his  bed- 
room. He  died  in  the  harness  in  1857,  praying  God  to  spare  him 
to  complete  the  work  of  the  Arabic  Bible.  Had  he  been  less 
consecrated  to  the  work  he  would  not  have  been  overtaken  in  it. 
His  exactness  and  zeal  hastened  his  death."  Dr.  Aiken  assisted 
in  the  work  and  understood  its  magnitude  and  its  difficulties. 
The  work  was  finished  by  Rev.  Dr.  C.  A.  Van  Dyke  in  1864. 

Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  First  Vice  President  of  the  Society, 
being  present,  recalled  the  day  of  Dr.  EH  Smith's  conversion; 
how  that  while  in  Yale  College  in  1820  it  was  said  among  his  class- 
mates "Smith  is  converted — Rejoice  in  hope." 

During  the  year  more  than  twenty  thousand  families  in  the 
state  were  visited,  11,985  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circu- 
lation, and  thirty-one  colporteurs  employed. 

The  fifty-eighth  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  June  29,  1869, 
was  addressed  by  Rev.  Lorenzo  D.  Barrows,  D.D.,  Rev.  Henry 
M.  Stone,  Rev.  WilUam  Clark,  Secretary  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Home  Missionary  Society,  Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  Rev.  Na- 
thaniel L.  Chase,  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Brown,  and  Rev.  Moses  Cole. 
A  donation  of  $3,704.01  was  made  to  the  American  Bible  Society. 

The  year  1870  records  the  death  of  Rev.  Benjamin  P.  Stone, 
D.D.,  who  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  Society  in  1854.  At  the 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  in  Concord,  December  5, 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  Divine  dispensation  by  which 
our  fellow  laborer.  Rev.  Benjamin  P.  Stone,  D.D.,  has  been  re- 
moved from  his  earthly  labor,  we  place  on  record  our  deep  sense 
of  his  Christian  integrity  and  energy,  and  th3  high  estimation 
in  which  we  held  his  faithful  service  rendered  for  so  many  years 
past  as  Treasurer  and  Depositary,  and  the  aid  he  has  rendered 
in  administering  the  affairs  of  the  Society  and  inculcating  the 
Word  of  God  throughout  the  state  and  the  world. 

Dea.  Hazen  Pickering,  of  Concord,  was  appointed  Treasurer 
and  Depositary  of  the  Society  until  the  next  annual  meeting. 


Hon.  John  Kimball. 

Trea.surer,  1871- 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  29 

The  Hon.  Henry  A.  Bellows,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  addressed  the  meeting. 

In  the  fifty-ninth  annual  report  the  Secretary  said  ''Another 
year  of  care  and  labor  has  been  added  to  the  fifty-eight  which 
have  gone  before  it  in  th'^  history  of  this  Society.  Sixty-eight 
towns  have  been  canvassed,  15,723  families  visited,  and  321  found 
destitute,  and  $2,632.49  were  sent  as  a  donation  to  the  American 
Bible  Society."  It  was  voted  to  hold  the  next  annual  meeting 
in  Manchester. 

The  sixtieth  annual  meeting  was  held  in  accordance  with  the 
vote  of  the  Society  in  the  First  Congregational  Church  at  Man- 
chester, June  6,  1871.  Dea.  Hazen  Pickering,  after  five  months 
of  service,  sent  in  his  resignation  as  Treasurer  and  Depositary  of 
the  Society  on  account  of  ill  health.  The  following  action  was 
taken: 

Voted,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Directors  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  be  tendered  to  Hazen  Pickering,  Esq.,  for  his  valu- 
able services  as  Treasurer  of  this  Society,  and  that  we  deeply 
regret  that  his  health  is  such  as  to  lead  him  to  resign  this  office, 
and  in  view  of  the  important  services  to  the  Society  by  Miss 
Fanny  E.  Pickering  during  the  sickness  of  her  father,  that  she  be 
constituted  a  life  member  of  the  Society. 

Hon.  John  Kimball,  the  present  Treasurer  and  Depositary,  was 
elected  at  this  meeting.  The  report  of  the  year  says,  "The  Bible 
work  in  the  state  was  carried  forward  much  as  in  former  years, 
new  fields  have  been  explored,  and  new  wants  have  been  suppUed. 
The  tried  agents  of  the  Society,  Rev.  Nathaniel  L.  Chase  and 
Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  have  devoted  their  time  to  its  interests, 
and  11,491  families  have  been  visited.  The  Society  received  a 
legacy  of  one  thousand  dollars  from  the  estate  of  Mrs.  Sally 
Batchelder,  late  of  Mason,  to  be  expended  for  the  purchase  and 
distribution  of  the  Word  of  God  among  those  in  the  state  who  are 
destitute.  A  donation  of  $7,158.80  was  remitted  to  the  American 
Bible  Society. 

The  following  inscription  is  on  the  tombstone  in  the  cemetery 
at  Deering,  N.  H. 


30  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

James  Gregg 

Died 

February  9,  1871. 

Age  56  yrs.,  5  months,  22  days. 

He  bequeathed  $23,000  to  the 

American  Bible  Society. 

That  life  is  long  which  answers 

life's  great  end. 

The  report  of  the  year  1872  records  the  death  of  Rev.  Osman 
C.  Baker,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
for  twenty  years  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents  of  the  Society,  and 
also  one  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 
"His  sound  judgment,  his  moral  integrity,  his  careful  business 
habits,  his  readiness  to  meet  all  the  duties  required  of  him,  made 
him  of  great  importance  to  our  work." 

At  the  sixty-first  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  June  13, 
Rev.  James  Pike  was  elected  Vice-President.  The  Secretary's 
report  showed  thirty-six  towns  canvassed,  fifteen  thousand 
families  visited,  and  183  found  destitute.  The  Treasurer  re- 
ported six  legacies  amounting  to  $2,922.39  received  as  follows: 
from  E.  G.  Currier,  of  Somersworth,  $300;  from  Miss  Eliza  T. 
Stevens,  of  Loudon,  $10;  from  Miss  Sylvia  Twitchell,  of  Rindge, 
$70.37;  from  Miss  Mary  Davis,  of  Rindge,  $195.40;  from  Miss 
Sarah  J.  Lawrence,  of  Amherst,  $250;  and  from  Miss  Ann  G. 
Merrill,  of  Concord,  $2,396.62.  Subsequently  $350.88  was  re- 
ceived on  account  of  Miss  Merrill's  legacy,  making  the  full  amoun 
$2,747.50.  The  donations  to  the  American  Bible  Society  for  the 
year  ending  May  31,  1871,  as  reported  by  Rev.  Benjamin  P. 
Stone  and  Dea.  Hazen  Pickering,  Treasurers  of  the  Society, 
amounted  to  $4,078.93. 

The  sixty-second  annual  report  for  the  year  ending  May  31, 
1873  says,  "Including  the  money  paid  for  books  and  the  donation 
of  $1,061.70  from  this  Society,  the  donations  which  have  gone 
directly  to  the  Treasurer  of  that  Society,  without  passing  through 
our  treasury,  and  the  legacies  that  have  been  paid  to  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  from  this  state  during  the  year  ending  with 
March,  amount  to  $11,483.11."  The  Rev.  Silas  L.  Blake,  of 
Concord,  was  elected  Vice-President.     Sixty-five    towns  were 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  31 

canvassed,  22,281  families  visited,  and  5,535  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures put  into  circulation. 

The  resignation  of  Rev.  Isaac  Willey  as  the  New  Hampshire 
agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society  was  read  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing and  the  following  resolution  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  resignation  of  Rev.  Isaac  Willey 
of  the  agency  of  the  American  Bible  Society  for  this  state,  in 
which  he  has  labored  with  fidelity  and  efficiency  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  the  thanks  of  this  Society  are  eminently  due  for 
his  earnest  and  persistent  labors.  It  is  our  hope  that  his  life  and 
health  will  be  preserved,  and  that  this  Society  may  be  able  to 
avail  itself  of  much  assistance  from  his  long  experience  and  valu- 
able counsels." 

Mr.  Willey  retained  his  office  as  Secretary  and  was  requested 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  act  as  ths  Society's  agent  in  New 
Hampshire,  doing  what  his  judgment  might  suggest  and  health 
permit. 

1874.  For  several  years  the  duty  of  doing  something  for  the 
benefit  of  the  French  people  coming  among  us  in  large  numbers 
from  Canada  had  been  considered  by  the  Directors.  They  were 
coming  here  seeking  employment, — a  strong,  healthy  and  indus- 
trious people.  They  readily  adopted  our  institutions,  but  did 
not  have  our  Bible.  It  was  thought  best  to  secure  the  services 
of  a  competent  Christian  man,  who  had  been  brought  up  among 
them.  For  this  special  service,  the  Rev.  A,  Maillard,  from 
Canada,  was  employed.  This  Society  was  aided  in  the  work  by 
the  New  Hampshire  Home  Missionary  Society,  by  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Conference,  and  by  a  contribution  from  the  Baptist 
Convention.  Mr.  Maillard  was  stationed  at  Manchester  where 
he  labored  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  French  people  for  two 
years.  He  also  visited  Nashua,  Concord,  Frankhn,  Tilton, 
Somersworth  and  other  places  in  the  state  where  French  people 
were  to  be  found,  with  satisfactory  results.  In  the  canvass  of 
the  state  14,510  families  were  visited,  and  3,175  copies  of  the  Bible 
distributed. 

Three  legacies  amounting  to  $1,950.00  were  received  during  the 
year.  The  income  for  the  Bible  cause  from  the  state  for  the  year 
ending  with  March,  as  reported  by  the  American  Bible  Society, 
was  $10,531.38. 


32  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

The  sixty-fourth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Nashua,  June 
29,  1875.  Rev.  Nathaniel  L.  Chase  died  May  3.  He  was  born 
at  Unity,  October  30,  1813,  and  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Chucrh  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. For  ten  years  he  was  connected  with  the  business  interests 
of  this  Society.  His  character  fitted  him  eminently  for  Bible 
w^ork  and  the  loss  of  such  a  man  was  felt  by  the  Society.  The 
following  resolutions  were  adopted: 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father,  in  his  infinite 
wisdom,  to  remove  by  death  from  the  responsibilities  of  human 
life,  our  friend  and  fellow-laborer.  Rev.  Nathaniel  L.  Chase, 
one  of  the  collectors  and  Bible  distributers  of  this  Society,  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  by  the  officers  and  members  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society,  in  our  annual  meeting  assembled,  that  we  are 
profoundly  sensible  of  the  great  loss  this  Society  has  sustained 
in  the  death  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  L.  Chase,  a  faithful  Christian 
minister,  and  one  of  the  most  successful  workers  in  the  Bible 
cause. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  submissively  to  the  inscrutable 
providence  which  removed  our  friend  in  the  midst  of  his  useful- 
ness, we  most  devoutly  implore  that  '  He  who  buries  his  workmen 
but  carries  on  his  work'  will  raise  up  others  in  our  midst  to 
wear  his  mantle  and  share  his  honor  and  reward. 

The  records  of  the  annual  meeting  also  state  the  resignation 
of  Rev.  Isaac  Willey  as  Secretary  and  agent  of  this  Society, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

Whereas,  The  Rev.  Isaac  Willey,  for  twenty-five  years 
Secretary  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  has  tendered 
his  resignation  and  the  same  having  been  accepted,  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  with  sincere  regret  that  this  Society  parts 
with  an  officer  so  genial  and  so  efficient,  and  whose  long  term 
of  service  is  the  best  certificate  of  fitness  for  the  duties  that  have 
devolved  upon  him. 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  gratefully  recognizes  the  fact  that, 
under  the  blessing  of  God,  its  usefulness  in  disseminating  the 
Bible  throughout  the  state,  during  his  official  connection  with 
it,  has  been  largely  due  to  the  fidelity  and  untiring  energy  of 
our  venerable  brother. 

Resolved,  That    in    parting   with    dear   Brother    Willey,    this 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  33 

Society  would  express  the  hope  that  we  may  still  have  his  counsels 
and  prayers  to  cheer  us  in  our  work;  that  it  may  please  the  Lord 
to  add  many  years  to  his  life,  and  that  in  his  decHning  days, 
he  may  be  able  to  say,  "Thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me. " 

We  have  the  following  incident  of  interest:  "A  Bible  was 
bought  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  in  1815,  about  the 
the  time  the  head  of  the  familj^  became  a  Christian  and  estab- 
lished family  worship.  It  was  read  in  the  family  morning  and 
evening  for  forty  years.  In  that  time  ten  children  came  forward 
in  hfe,  all  of  whom  commenced  the  Christian  life  at  home,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  one  who  died,  became  heads  of  families 
and  lived  in  six  different  states,  while  the  aged  parents,  sus- 
tained by  its  promises,  departed  in  peace." 

Need  it  be  said  that  one  of  these  children  was  "Father  Willey," 
the  long  honored  secretary  of  this  Society? 

Another  of  the  ten  children  was  Rev.  Worcester  Willey,  who 
for  twenty-six  years  served  as  a  missionary  for  the  American 
Board  among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  was  the  originator  of 
the  Cherokee  character  alphabet  in  which  the  first  New  Testa- 
ment was  written  for  the  Cherokee  nation. 

The  Bible  proves  its  value  by  the  results  that  follow  its  cir- 
culation, and  the  above  named  Bible  may  be  regarded,  not  in 
every  particular,  but  generally,  as  a  fair  representative  of  the 
many  thousands  of  copies  disposed  of  in  the  state  during  the 
earlier  years  of  the  existence  of  this  society. 

The  Rev.  Silas  L.  Blake  of  Concord,  was  elected  Secretary, 
and  Rev.  Daniel  J.  Smith  and  Rev.  Frederick  Alvord,  Vice- 
Presidents.  Mr.  Moses  P.  Page  of  Gilmanton,  in  closing  the 
business  of  a  merchant  in  his  advanced  years,  proposed  to  appro- 
priate a  portion  of  his  property  to  the  leading  benevolent  objects 
of  the  day;  among  these  objects  was  this  Society  to  which  he 
gave  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  This  donation  was  entered 
upon  the  books  of  the  Society  as  the  Moses  P.  Page  Fund,  the 
income  to  be  spent  in  Bible  work  in  the  state. 

The  canvass  work  for  this  year  was  done  almost  wholly  by 
Dea.  William  G.  Brown.  Fifty-one  towns  were  canvassed,  7,494 
families  visited,  174  found  destitute,  and  2,912  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  distributed. 

A  legacy  of  nine  hundred  fifty  dollars  was  received  from 
Mrs.  M.  -L.  Smith,  of   Acworth,  and  one   hundred   dollars  from 


34  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Miss  Eleanor  Nutter,  of  Barnstead.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  people  in  all  conditions  of  life  have  been  drawn  to  this  work 
and  have  the  same  desire  that  all  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  this 
Book.  An  old  lady  Hving  back  among  the  mountains  is  remem- 
bered, who  was  accustomed  to  sit  up  and  knit  at  night,  after 
the  family  had  retired,  to  earn  her  two  dollars  a  year  for  this 
cause. 

The  sixty-fifth  annual  meeting  was  held  in  the  South  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Concord,  June  20,  1876.  Rev.  James  Thurs- 
ton was  elected  Vice-President.  At  this  meeting  a  new  office 
was  created,  that  of  Superintendent,  and  Dea.  William  G.  Brown 
was  elected  to  fill  the  office.  The  function  of  his  office  was  to 
oversee  the  Bible  Society  work  in  the  state. 

The  seventh  article  of  the  Constitution  was  so  changed  as  to 
allow  the  directors  to  call  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Society 
at  any  time  and  place  during  the  month  of  June.  The  following 
items  of  interest  were  reported  by  the  Secretary. 

By  order  of  the  directors,  the  Secretary  saw  the  superintendents 
of  the  railroads  centering  in  Concord  and  made  efforts  to  have 
racks  put  in  all  the  passenger  cars  and  freight  cabooses  of  the 
several  roads,  to  receive  the  Bibles  presented  by  the  American 
Bible  Society.  The  Concord  Railroad  Company  immediately 
complied  with  the  request,  and  was  supplied,  and  thanks  were 
tendered  to  the  superintendent  for  the  alacrity  with  which  he 
aided  the  Secretary  in  executing  this  wish  of  the  Society. 

During  the  year  ending  May  31,  ninety-one  towns  were 
canvassed,  27,464  families  visited,  309  Protestant  famiUes  found 
destitute,  and  6,198  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  in  circulation, 

Five  legacies  were  received  as  follows: 

Miss  Savale  Green,  of  Dover     $100.00 

L.  J.  Mclndoe,  of  Windsor,  Vt 966.57 

Ezekiel  Lane,  of  Raymond,      325.00 

Mrs.  Cozby  and  Mrs.  Perkins,  of  Jaffrey, 25.00 

Miss  Sarah  Chui-ch,  of  Pelham    100.00 

The  sixty-sixth  annual  meeting  was  held  in  the  South  Congre- 
gational Church,  Concord,  June  8,  1877.  The  following  reso- 
lution was  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  Directors  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society  hereby  gratefully  recognize  the  generous  bequest  (Five 


Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  D.D. 

Director,  1875-1878. 
Secretary,  1878-1898. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  35 

Thousand  Dollars)  .  .  .  provided  in  the  will  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Betsey  Whitehouse,  of  Pembroke. 

The  Superintendent  in  his  report  for  this  year  says,  "We 
go  forth  with  the  Bible  in  our  hand,  trusting  in  the  promise  of 
God  that  his  Word  shall  not  return  void." 

Eightj'-nine  towais  were  canvassed,  19,841  families  visited, 
338  Protestant  families  found  destitute,  and  5,475  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  put  into  circulation. 

The  following  legacies  were  received : 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Whidden,  of  Derry,  $956.00 

Mrs.  Dorothy  K.  Wheeler,  of  Lyndeboro,  100.00. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Directors  held  October  11,  Rev.  Silas  L. 
Blake  resigned  the  Secretaryship,  and  Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer, 
D.  D.  was  appointed  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term. 

At  the  sixty-seventh  annual  meeting  held  in  the  South  Congre- 
gational Church,  Concord,  June  19,  1878,  the  Rev.  Franklin 
D,  Ayer,  D.D.,  was  elected  Secretary,  and  Rev.  Elisha  Adams, 
D.D.,  and  Rev.  Edward  Robie,  D.D.,  Vice  Presidents.  The 
following  resolution  was  adopted: 

Recognizing  the  providence  that  has  removed  from  our  midst 
and  long  service  in  the  Bible  cause,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton, 
D.D.,  we  would  here  record  our  appreciation  of  his  love  of  the 
Bible,  his  earnest  defense  and  proclamation  of  its  great  truths. 
In  his  death  this,  and  every  good  cause,  has  lost  a  devoted  and 
faithful  friend,  yet  we  remember  with  gratitude  that  this  loss 
to  us  is  eternal  gain  to  him. 

The  Superintendent  reported  22,471  families  visited,  368 
Protestant  families  found  destitute,  and  7,561  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  circulated. 

At  the  sixty-eighth  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  June 
24,  1879,  Rev.  Isaac  Willey  was  elected  a  Vice-President. 

The  Superintendent's  report  for  the  year  shows  the  usual 
activity  in  Bible  work  with  the  following  results:  Seventy-four 
towns  were  canvassed,  15,207  families  visited,  270  Protestant 
families  found  destitute,  and  6,885  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
distributed. 


36  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

At  the  sixty-ninth  annual  meeting  held  at  Concord,  June  29, 
1880,  Rev.  Silas  Curtis  was  elected  a  Vice-President. 

This  year  one  hundred  and  six  towns  were  canvassed,  28,273 
families  visited,  353  Protestant  families  found  destitute,  and 
10,234  copies  of  the  Scriptures  distributed. 

The  seventieth  annual  meeting  was  held  in  Concord,  June 
24,  1881.  Hon.  Jonathan  E.  Sargent,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  Rev.  Charles  Parkhurst,  D.D.,  were 
elected  Vice-Presidents.  The  Superintendent  reported  seventy- 
four  towns  canvassed,  22,112  families  visited,  238  Protestant 
families  found  destitute,  and  8,816  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
distributed. 

At  the  seventy-first  annual  meeting  held  at  the  Depository 
in  Concord,  June  26,  1882,  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  of  the  plan,  and  are  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  it,  by  which  the  American  Bible  Society  again 
enters  upon  the  work  of  re-supplying  the  people  of  our  whole 
country  with  the  Scriptures. 

Resolved,  That  in  carrying  out  the  plan  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  we  will  heartily  engage  in  the  work  in  our  own  state, 
for  which  we  will  be  responsible  and  do  what  we  can  to  aid  them 
in  the  great  work  of  re-supply. 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  this  year  enter  upon 
a  more  enlarged  re-supply  of  our  own  state,  we  ask  all  the  churches 
in  the  state  which  are  in  sympathy  with  this  movement,  to  give 
us  a  contribution. 

The  re-supply  of  the  state  began  immediately. 

The  Superintendent's  report  says,  "To  carry  this  work  on 
at  home  and  abroad,  there  must  be  continued  and  increasing 
contributions  to  the  Bible  cause.  We  again  ask  our  friends 
to  contribute  each  year  in  aid  of  this  object;  that  in  those  towns 
where  our  collectors  do  not  go,  a  collection  be  taken  during  the 
year  in  the  churches  for  this  good  old  cause.  During  the  year 
one  hundred  and  ten  towns  were  canvassed,  18,722  families 
visited,  241  Protestant  families  found  destitute,  and  8,899  copies 
of  the  Scriptures  distributed. 

The  seventy-second  annual  meeting  was  held  in  Concord, 
June    30,    1883.     Rev.    Sullivan    Holman  was  elected    a    Vice- 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  37 

President.  The  report  ending  May  31,  shows  ninety  towns 
canvassed,  32,576  families  visited,  307  Protestant  families  found 
destitute,  and  10,229  copies  of  the  Scriptures  circulated. 

On  October  24  the  Rev.  Isaac  Willey  died  at  his  home  in 
Pembroke.  He  was  born  in  Campton  September  8,  1793, 
graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1822,  from  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  in  1825,  and  was  ordained  January  18, 
1826.  For  nine  years  he  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Rochester,  N.  H.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Home  Missionary  Society  for  1834-37;  for  seventeen 
years  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Goffstown, 
N.  H.,  and  in  1850  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society,  an  office  which  he  filled  with  acceptance  until  1875. 
In  1853  he  was  appointed  agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
for  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  an  office  which  he 
filled  until  1873.  During  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  he  was 
active,  being  90  years,  1  month,  16  days  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  By  the  death  of  Mr.  Willey  the  state  lost  an  honored 
citizen,  the  Bible  Society  an  efficient  Avorker,  and  the  church  a 
faithful  member. 

The  report  of  the  Superintendent  at  the  seventy-third  annual 
meeting  of  the  Society,  held  at  the  Depository  in  Concord, 
June  26,  1884,  shows  a  continued  activity  in  the  canvass  work 
and  re-supply  of  the  state,  one  hundred  and  forty  towns  canvassed, 
31,969  families  visited,  318  families  found  destitute,  and  9,690 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation,  and  only  seventeen 
towns  and  the  City  of  Concord  remaining  to  complete  the  canvass 
of  the  entire  state.  The  work  was  completed  in  1885  with  the 
following  results,  when  246  towns  were  canvassed,  76,760  families 
visited,  704  Protestant  families  found  without  a  Bible,  and 
22,499  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation. 

The  canvass  work  was  done  by  Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  Supt., 
Rev.  Edward  Francis,  Rev.  Edmund  T.  Oilman,  Dea.  James  R. 
Leavitt,  Dea.  Oliver  H.  Parker,  and  Franklin  S.  Wood.  Beside 
meeting  the  expense  of  the  state  work,  a  donation  of  thirteen 
hundred  dollars  was  sent  to  the  American  Bible  Society. 

The  seventy-fifth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  Depository 
June  21,  1886  and  the  following  vote  was  passed: 


38  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

"That  the  President,  Dr.  Edward  Spalding,  and  Treasurer, 
Hon.  John  Kimball,  be  appointed  a  committee  with  power  to 
engage  legal  counsel,  if  necessary,  and  to  settle  with  the  exec- 
utor of  the  will  of  Rev.  William  Richardson,  late  of  Manchester, 
deceased,  in  regard  to  bequests  given  to  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  by  said  will. " 

The  Superintendent  reports  one  hundred  and  one  towns 
canvassed,  33,657  families  visited,  244  Protestant  famihes 
without  a  Bible,  and  6,848  copies  of  the  Scriptures  distributed. 

There  were  also  several  new  men  in  the  field.  Rev.  Ezra  B. 
Pike,  of  Brentwood;  Rev.  John  T.  Davis,  of  Tuftonborough ; 
Alfred  S.  Orne  of  Bow;  Rev.  George  C.  Noyes,  of  Sandwich; 
Rev.  Wilham  H.  Jones,  of  Epping;  Rev.  Daniel  Goodhue,  of 
Suncook;  and  Mr.  John  W.  Weeks,  of  Columbia. 

At  the  seventy-sixth  annual  meeting  held  at  the  Depository 
June  3,  1887,  it  was  voted, 

"That  when  we  adjourn,  it  is  to  meet  with  the  Hillsborough 
County  Bible  Society,  in  Hollis,  to  observe  the  seventy-fifth 
anniversary  of  this  Society." 

The  Superintendent's  report  for  the  year  ending  May  31, 
shows  one  hundred  and  ten  towns  canvassed,  23,121  families 
visited,  196  families  found  destitute,  and  6,326  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  put  in  circulation. 

The  seventy-fifth  anniversary  meeting  was  held  at  Hollis, 
September  20,  1887,  where  the  first  meeting  after  the  organization 
of  the  Society  was  held  in  1812. 

Rev.  David  E.  Miller  opened  the  meeting  with  Scripture 
reading  and  prayer.  The  President,  Hon.  Edward  Spalding, 
gave  an  address  upon  the  changes  in  the  world  and  in  Christian 
work  in  seventy-five  years.  The  historical  address,  reviewing 
the  work  of  seventy-five  years,  was  given  by  the  superintendent, 
Dea.  William  G.  Brown.  The  Secretary,  Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer, 
D.  D.,  spoke  of  the  lessons  and  encouragements  to  be  derived 
from  the  history  of  the  years  past.  Rev.  Albert  S.  Hunt,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  gave  an  address  upon 
the  work  of  that  Society. 

The  seventy-seventh  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  Depos- 
itory in  Concord,  June  22,  1888.     Rev.  Samuel  C.  Keelerwas 


\\lLLIAM    Ci.    BkuWN. 

Colporteur.  1848-1892. 

Director,  18.55-1871. 

Superintendent,  1877-1892 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  39 

elected  Vice-President.  The  Secretary's  report  contained  the 
following  interesting  item.  With  this  report,  Dea.  William  G. 
Brown  completed  forty  years  of  service  for  the  Societj\  He 
visited  during  that  time  289,904  families  in  New  Hampshire, 
finding  4,758  Protestant  families  without  the  Scriptures,  seUing 
90,640  copies,  and  giving  away  13,780  copies,  thus  putting  into 
circulation  104,420  copies.  He  canvassed  1,073  towns  and 
travelled  190,000  miles. 

With  the  year  closing  May  31,  seventy  towns  were  canvassed, 
37,057  families  visited,  202  families  found  destitute,  and  7,162 
copies  of  the  scriptures  put  into  circulation. 

The  Superint3ndent  reported  for  the  year  1889  a  continued 
canvass  of  the  state  with  the  usual  good  results.  Eighty-three 
towns  were  canvassed,  20,465  families  visited,  133  families  found 
destitute,  and  5,020  copies  of  the  Scriptures  distributed.  Dea. 
William  G.  Brown  sent  to  his  personal  friends  in  the  state  the 
following  printed  circular  letter : 

Friends  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society: 

I  have  labored  in  the  "Wilderness"  of  New  Hampshire  40  years,  in  the 
distribution  of  the  Bible  for  the  Bible  Society.  I  have  found  more  than  4,700 
Protestant  families  without  the  Bible.  I  have  put  into  circulation  more  than 
100,000  copies  of  the  blessed  Book.  We  have  not  been  able  to  do  all  we  wanted 
in  giving.  Especially  has  that  been  the  case  with  orphan  children  and  old 
people,  who  wanted  the  large  Testament  and  Psalms,  and  who  were  too  poor 
to  buy.  We  find  such  in  nearly  all  of  our  towns.  My  own  heart  has  been 
often  touched  and  drawn  out  for  these.  Often  have  I  wished  that  we  had 
more  money  to  supply  such.  No  better  use  of  money  could  be  made  than  to 
furnish  these  boys  and  girls  with  a  suitable  pocket  Bible,  and  these  poor  old 
people  with  the  Testament  and  Psalms. 

Now,  at  the  close  of  this  40  years'  work  for  the  Bible  Society,  I  desire  to 
raise  among  my  personal  friends  the  sum  of  $2,000  as  a  permanent  fund,  the 
interest  to  be  used  yearly  for  the  supplying  of  such  persons  as  we  have  named 
with  Bibles  and  Testaments.  I  wish  all  who  love  the  Bible  cause,  and  espec- 
ially my  personal  friends  all  over  the  state,  and  into  whose  hands  this  little 
circular  may  fall,  will  consider  this  object  and  aid  in  this  undertaking.  Will 
you  not  send  me  something'^.  Every  little  will  add  to  make  up  the  whole. 
The  interest  on  .^1.00  will  pay  for  a  Testament,  and  the  interest  on  .$5.00  will 
pay  for  a  Bible,  year  after  year,  and  this  will  go  on  long  after  we  are  dead, 
and  perhaps  cease  to  be  remembered  by  name,  but  our  gift  not  dead  but 
.speaketh. 

It  is  a  cause  that  lies  near  my  own  heart,  and  one  I  am  sure  God  will  bless. 
I  shall  put  down  a  good  subscription  myself,  and  earnestly  ask  all  my  friends 
to  aid  in  this  object.     Give  all  you  can  cheerfully,  and  do  not  be  ashamed  to 


40  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

send  in  the  small  amount.  If  there  is  no  objection,  I  wish  to  publish  the 
list  of  names  Avho  give  to  this  special  object  in  our  next  annual  report.  If  there 
is  objection  to  the  name,  please  say  "friend";  though  I  would  be  glad  of  the 
name.  Be  assured  that  this  "fund,"  given  by  my  personal  friends,  will  be  a 
great  and  lasting  gratification  to  myself. 

I  want  to  raise  this  fund  for  the  Bible  Society,  as  a  thank-offering  from 
myself  and  friends,  for  God's  favor  to  me,  personally,  and  for  His  blessing  on 
my  poor  humble  efforts  during  all  these  forty  years  in  the  "Wilderness." 
Yours  very  truly, 

W.  G.  Brown. 

The  responses  were  liberal  from  all  parts  of  the  state  and  from 
all  rehgious  denominations;  and  the  gifts  soon  amounted  to 
three  thousand  dollars.  This  .amount  was  set  apart  by  the 
Treasurer  as  the  Dea.  William  G.  Brown  fund. 

The  sevent^^-ninth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  Depository 
in  Concord,  June  30,  1890.  Hon.  Wilham  M.  Chase,  LL.D. 
was  elected  a  Vice-President. 

1890  and  1891  were  years  of  prosperity  for  the  Society.  The 
Superintendent  reported  for  1890  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
towns  canvassed,  43,623  famihes  visited,  356  families  found 
destitute,  and  9,434  copies  of  the  Scriptures  distributed;  and 
for  1891  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  towns  canvassed,  80,183 
families  visited,  541  Protestant  families  found  destitute,  and 
17,485  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation,  of  which 
4,475  copies  were  gifts  from  the  Society. 

In  doing  the  work  of  these  years  the  following  named  persons 
were  employed:  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Brown,  Rev.  George  W.  H. 
Clark,  Rev.  George  H.  Hardy,  Rev.  Wilham  C.  A.  Converse, 
Rev.  Silas  G.  Kellogg,  Rev.  James  S.  Harlow,  Rev.  James  D. 
Legro,  Dea.  Charles  H.  Tillotson,  Dea.  Henry  A.  Peabody, 
Franklin  S.  Wood,  J.  Sherman  Gove,  John  P.  M.  Brown,  John 
A.  Fifield,  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Litchfield. 

The  following  is  a  history  of  the  Rev.  WiUiam  Richardson 
legacy. 

Rev.  William  Richardson,  who  was  a  Congregational  clergy- 
man, died  November  1,  1869,  leaving  a  will  dated  March  13, 
1861,  containing  provisions  as  follows: 

"First,  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  beloved  wife,  Olive  T. 
Richardson,  all  my  personal  and  real  estate  during  her  natural 
life,  to  be  used  and  managed  by  her  as  she  shall  see  fit.     And  I 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  41 

hereby  appoint  her  my  solo  executrix  of  this  my  last  will  and 
testament. 

"And  lastly,  and  whatever  may  remain  of  my  property  after 
her  decease,  it  is  my  will  that  five  hundred  dollars  be  given  to 
Horace  D.  Dudley  (my  blind  nephew),  and  one  hundred  dollars 
to  William  R.  Marden,  son  of  Richmond  Harden,  of  Frances- 
town,  N.  H.,  and  of  the  balance  that  one  half  of  it  be  given  to 
th3  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  and  the  other  half  to  be  dis- 
posed of  by  my  beloved  wife  as  she  shall  choose." 

Olive  T.  Richardson  died  September  15,  1885.  Her  will, 
dated  January  2,  1878,  contained  the  following  paragraph: 

"Lastly,  I  give,  bequeath,  and  devise  unto  the  trustees  of 
Phillips  Academy  of  Andover,  Massachusetts,  their  successors 
in  office  and  assigns  forever,  all  the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder 
of  my  estate,  both  personal,  real  and  mixed,  wherever  found  and 
however  situate,  to  hold  in  trust,  to  themselves,  their  successors 
in  office  and  assigns  forever,  the  principal  of  said  property  and 
estate  to  be  safely  invested  by  said  trustees  and  their  successors, 
and  the  income  and  interest  thereof  to  be  expended  under 
their  direction  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
under  their  care." 

Three  suits  were  brought;  one  for  an  interpretation  of  the 
provisions  of  Mr.  Richardson's  will;  one  by  Mr.  Richardson's 
heirs  against  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy,  contesting 
Mrs.  Richardson's  right  to  bequeath  the  half  of  the  property 
remaining  at  her  decease  which  was  not  given  by  him  to  the 
Bible  Society;  and  the  other  to  determine  the  question  whether 
the  Bible  Society's  portion  was  one  half  of  the  estate  left  by  Mr. 
Richardson,  or  one  half  of  the  estate  as  it  was  at  the  time  of  his 
wife's  death.  The  latter  suit  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  Society, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  decision  $31,917.41  was  paid  Novem- 
ber 26,  1889,  to  John  Kimball,  Treasurer  of  the  Society. 

The  eighty-first  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  at  the 
Depository  in  Concord,  June  27,  1892.  Dea.  William  G.  Brown, 
Superintendent  of  the  Society,  died  April  5.  Death  came 
suddenly.  He  retired  at  night  on  earth,  but  awoke  in  Heaven. 
It  was  not  a  "sunset,"  but  a  "sunrise."  He  was  born  in  Hollis, 
July  3,  1816.  In  January  1849  he  entered  upon  what  proved  to 
be  his  life  work,  the  service  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society. 


42  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

The  Secretary's  report  says:  "He  was  a  man  with  rare  tact  and 
could  approach  all  classes  of  men  and  faithfully  improve  every 
advantage  given  to  impress  the  truth.  His  whole  soul  was  in 
his  work,  which  had  become  a  passion  with  him.  Every  door 
opening  to  him  was  a  new  opportunity  and  every  person  he  met  a 
new  privilege.  But  he  was  not  a  mere  seller  or  donor  of  Bibbs. 
He  was  an  Evangelist,  a  messenger  of  the  truth,  and  with  the 
book  he  gave  wise  counsel  and  offered  many  an  earnest  prayer." 
He  travelled  every  road  in  New  Hampshire,  canvassed  every 
town,  and  more  than  once  visited  every  home  in  the  state. 
Everybody  knew  "Dea.  Brown,"  the  "Bible  Man." 

In  1878  he  was  elected  Superintendent  of  the  Society,  and  had 
the  entire  charge  of  Bible  distribution  in  the  state.  The  County 
Bible  Societies'  meetings,  fifteen  each  year,  were  carried  on 
largely  by  his  personal  effort.  He  had  just  completed  the  canvass 
of  the  state  when  death  came.  The  last  full  year  of  canvass 
work  reported  was  the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  Society.  He 
seemed  to  have  finished  his  work  and  rounded  out  his  service. 
He  then  laid  down  a  work  no  other  man  could  have  done  as  well. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  December  19, 
1892,  statements  were  made  by  the  Secretary  and  the  Treasurer 
in  regard  to  the  work  of  ths  Society,  and  of  the  need  of  a  Super- 
intendent, and  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken,  of  Concord,  was  elected  to 
that  office. 

The  eighty-second  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  at 
the  Depository,  June,  10,  1893.  Rev.  James  K.  Ewer  was  elected 
Vice-President.  The  report  of  the  Treasurer  was  presented  and 
the  following  action  taken: 

Whereas,  the  Treasurer  has  exhibited  to  the  Board  the  bonds 
and  other  evidences  of  investments  of  the  Society's  funds,  and 
it  appears  therefrom  that  he  has  all  the  securities  with  which  he 
charges  himself  in  this  account,  and  that  the  investments  have 
been  judiciously  made,  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  account  be  accepted  and  approved,  and 
that  the  Society  assume  the  risk  of  the  investments. 

The  death  of  Rev.  Silas  Curtis,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents 
was  announced,  and  the  following  minute  adopted: 

Whereas,  The  Rev.  Silas  Curtis,  for  many  years  an  officer  of 
this  Society,  has  been  removed  by  death,  we  record  our  appre- 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  43 

ciation  of  the  long  and  faithful  service  which  he  has  rendered 
to  this  Society,  and  remember  his  constancy  in  the  discharge 
of  his  official  duties,  as  a  true  and  cheerful  servant  of  God." 

At  tha  eighty-third  annual  meeting,  held  at  the  Depository 
in  Concord,  June  22,  1894,  Rev.  Asahel  S.  Gilbert  was  elected 
Vice-President. 

The  Secretary's  report  contained  the  following: 

New  names  have  been  added  to  the  list  of  those  who,  loving 
this  Society  while  living,  have  provided  for  its  advancement  when 
they  are  dead. 

Mrs.  Lucy  Spalding,  of  Nashua,  was  a  woman  of  the  genera- 
tion gone  whose  character  was  declared  more  by  act  than  by  emo- 
tion, and  her  hand  was  obedient  to  the  behests  of  a  large,  benev- 
olent heart.  Her  faith  in  God  and  His  kingdom  was  indicated 
by  her  gifts  to  the  different  societies  in  which  she  was  especially 
interested.  Her  faith  in  the  Bible  as  a  fountain  of  light  for  each 
family  was  proven  by  her  bequest  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to 
this  Society.  This  legacy  was  promptly  paid,  and  has  begun  its 
work. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Merriam,  of  Greenville,  and  Miss  Lucy  B.  Rich- 
ardson, of  Dublin,  women  of  sterling  worth  and  good  deeds,  also 
left  legacies  to  this  work.  Mr.  Jotham  Hildreth,  of  Lynde- 
borough,  bequeathed  to  us  two  hundred  dollars. 

We  are  grateful  to  the  many  living  whos3  yearly  benefactions, 
prolong  our  work,  and  treasure  with  thankful  hearts  the  memory 
of  the  departed,  who,  by  their  bequests,  perpetuate  their  work 
for  God  and  humanity. 

The  Superintendent's  report  of  canvass  work  gave  for  the 
years  of  1893,  1894,  and  1895,  two  hundred  and  forty-five  towns 
canvassed,  80,901  families  visited,  and  11,779  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  put  into  circulation.  Rev.  Edmund  T.  Gilman, 
Dea.  Willis  C.  Prsscott,  Ezra  C.  Willard,  Henry  A.  Peabody, 
Franklin  S.  Wood  and  Mrs.  John  T.  Davis  were  employed  as 
colporteurs. 

The  eighty-fifth  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  Depository 
in  Concord,  June  8,  1896. 

The  Secretary's  report  says,  "At  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Society,  Jun?  3,  1895,  Edward  Spalding,  LL.D.,  was  elected  its 


44  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

President  for  the  thirty-fifth  time.  We  then  recalled  his  long 
and  valuable  services  and  hoped  that  he  might  be  spared  for 
several  years  to  come.  He  was  then  walking  nearer  the  unseen 
curtain  that  divides  this  from  the  other  world  than  he  or  we 
knew.  He  died  suddenly,  June  22,  on  his  homeward  way  from 
the  fishing  grounds  that  had  become  clear  to  him  by  many  sea- 
sons of  rest  there." 

Dr.  Edward  Spalding,  son  of  Dr.  Matthias  Spalding  and  Re- 
becca Atherton,  his  wife,  was  born  at  Amherst,  September  15, 
1813. 

He  chose  the  profession  of  his  father  and  began  the  practice 
of  medicine  at  Nashua  in  1837.  Soon  frequent  and  urgent  calls 
were  made  on  him  for  services  not  less  needed  than  those  of  the 
physician. 

His  ability,  uprightness,  and  promptness  in  all  the  affairs  of 
business  so  multiplied  the  demands  made  upon  him,  that  he 
gave  up  his  successful  medical  practice  and  devoted  himself  to 
the  varied  and  responsible  trusts  that  demanded  all  his  time  and 
effort.  By  his  sterling  worth  and  conscientious  devotion  to 
every  interest  of  the  city  he  won  a  large  and  honored  place  in 
Nashua,  and  he  made  himself  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  churches 
of  New  Hampshire.  He  left  the  record  of  a  faithful,  painstaking, 
generous.  Christian  fife;  of  a  heart  loyal  to  the  center  to  duty 
and  God.  He  taught  in  the  Sunday-school  for  fifty  years,  and 
was  a  lover  of  the  Bible;  an  earnest  student  of  its  truths.  He 
felt  that  it  was  the  book  for  everybody,  and  was  anxious  that  all, 
especially  the  young,  should  have  it  and  accept  its  message. 

As  he  took  his  last  journey  he  bore  books  and  Bibles  with  him 
for  the  people  in  whom  he  had  become  deeply  interested  by  his 
repeated  labors  for  their  good,  and  was  to  have  presented  them 
to  the  Sunday-school  the  day  he  died. 

For  thirty-five  years  as  the  honored  President  of  this  Society 
he  did  all  he  could  for  its  prosperity. 

His  interest,  judgment,  constant  attendance  upon  its  meetings, 
and  his  personal  gifts  to  it  while  living,  followed  by  his  legacy  of 
five  thousand  dollars,  have  linked  his  name  for  all  time  to  the 
beneficent  work  of  the  Society.  Such  a  life  very  largely  abides 
after  the  body  has  gone  and  the  work  he  loved  will  have  new 
demands  upon  us  who  remain,  as  we  bear  it  along  without  his 
presence. 


r 


Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith. 

President. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  45 

The  Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith,  LL.D.,  of  Manchester,  was  elected 
President,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins,  D.D.,  Vice-President. 
Hon.  John  Kimball,  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken,  and  Rev.  Franklin 
Ayer,  D.D.,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  the  advisa- 
bility of  amending  the  act  of  incorporation,  and  to  prepare  for 
any  legislation  that  might  be  deemed  necessary. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  held  in  Concord,  June 
21,  1897,  the  committee  reported,  presenting  the  amendments 
made  by  the  legislature  at  its  last  session,  which  report  was 
accepted  and  its  amendments  adopted. 

THE    CONSTITUTION   AS    AMENDED. 

I.  The  Society  shall  be  called  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society.  The  sole  object  of  the  Society  is  to  promote  the  more 
extensive  distribution  of  the  Holy  Bible.  This  object  is  to  be 
invariably  pursued,  by  procuring  and  distributing  gratuitously 
among  the  destitute  and  needy,  or  selling  at  reduced  prices, 
according  to  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  Bibles  or 
Testaments,  in  the  English  language,  of  the  present  received 
version,  without  note  or  comment;  and  by  aiding,  in  case  the 
funds  of  the  Society  shall  admit,  in  translating  and  printing  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  other  languages,  for  charitable  distribution. 

II.  The  corporate  membership  of  the  Society  shall  consist  of 
such  persons  as  have  heretofore  paid  the  sum  of  thirty  dollars 
for  the  privilege  of  becoming  life  members,  and  of  such  persons, 
residents  of  New  Hampshire,  men  or  women,  not  exceeding 
twenty-seven,  as  may  be  elected.  Not  less  than  one  third  of 
the  members  elected  shall  be  laymen,  and  one  third  clergymen. 
The  remaining  third  may  be  clergymen  or  laymen. 

The  corporate  members  must  be  elected  by  ballot,  and  only  at 
the  annual  meetings.  Whenever  vacancies  in  the  membership 
occur,  caused  by  death,  resignation,  removal  from  the  state  or 
otherwise,  they  shall  be  filled  by  the  election  of  new  members. 
No  person  shall  be  elected  a  member  after  the  annual  meeting 
in  1897,  unless  recommended  by  the  Directors  in  meeting.  Vacan- 
cies caused  by  the  death,  resignation  or  otherwise  of  members 
who  have  hitherto  become  such  by  the  payment  of  thirty  dollars 
shall  not  be  filled,  the  purpose  being  that  after  all  who  have  become 


46  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

members  by  the  payment  of  thirty  dollars  have  ceased  to  be 
members,  the  corporate  membership  shall  consist  of  those  elected 
to  membership,  not  exceeding  at  any  one  time  twenty-seven 
persons.  The  number  of  corporate  members  necessary  for  trans- 
acting business  at  any  meeting  of  the  Society  shall  be  nine. 

III.  The  officers  of  the  society  shall  be  a  President,  three  Vice- 
Presidents,  a  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  four  Directors;  the  Presi- 
dent, Vice-Presidents,  and  Secretary  shall  ex  officio  be  also  Direc- 
tors, and,  together  with  the  other  four  Directors,  shall  constitute 
the  Board  of  Directors.  At  least  two  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  the 
Secretary,  and  two  of  the  Directors,  shall  be  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  All  of  said  officers,  except  the  Treasurer,  shall  be  chosen 
annually  by  ballot,  and  shall  hold  their  respective  offices  one 
year,  and  until  their  successors  are  chosen  and  qualified.  The 
Treasurer  shall  be  chosen  by  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  shall 
hold  his  office  during  their  pleasure. 

IV.  The  President,  if  present,  and  if  not,  the  oldest  Vice- 
President,  and  if  neither  President  nor  a  Vice-President  be  present, 
the  oldest  Director  present,  shall  preside  at  meetings  of  the 
Society  and  Board  of  Directors,  and  shall  have  the  powers  and 
privileges  pertaining  to  the  office  of  presiding  officer. 

V.  The  Secretary  shall  be  sworn  as  required  by  law,  and  shall 
keep  a  full  and  complete  record  of  all  proceedings  of  the  Society 
and  Board  of  Directors,  in  books  provided  for  the  purpose.  He 
shall  also  attend  to  such  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Society 
as  does  not  pertain  to  the  office  of  the  Treasurer. 

VI.  The  Treasurer  shall  give  to  the  Secretary  a  bond,  in  the 
penal  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  with  sufficient  sureties,  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties  while  he  continues  in  office. 
He  shall  receive,  invest  and  disburse  all  monies  belonging  to  the 
Society,  have  the  custody  of  its  securities,  and  keep  a  full,  partic- 
ular and  correct  record  of  all  his  receipts,  investments,  and 
disbursements  on  account  of  the  Society,  in  books  provided  for 
the  purpose;  but  he  shall  make  no  disbursements  except  under 
the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Rev.  Warren  R.  Cochrane,  D.D.  was  eletecd  Vice-President. 

The  following  were  elected  corporate  members  of  the  Society: 
Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith,  Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  Rev.  Joseph  E. 
Robins,  Rev.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn,  Rev.  Daniel  C.  Knowles,  and 
John  C.  Thorne. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY,  47 

At  the  eighty-seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  held  at 
the  Depository  at  Concord,  June  13,  1898,  Rev.  Franklin  D. 
Ayer,  Secretary,  having  resigned  after  twenty  years  of  service 
Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith,  LL.D.,  President  of  the  Society  since 
the  annual  meeting  of  1896,  died  November  28,  1898.  Although 
his  connection  with  the  Society  was  brief,  it  was  very  beneficial. 
He  drew  the  amendments  of  the  Constitution  made  in  1897,  and 
whenever  called  upon  freely  gave  the  Society  the  benefit  of  his  legal 
learning  and  ripe  judgment.  He  occupied  many  official  posi- 
tions, all  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public  and  with  credit  to 
himself.  His  life  was  governed  by  the  teachings  of  the  Bible. 
He  took  a  deep  interest  in  religious  matters  and  was  an  honor  to 
the  church  of  Christ. 

At  the  eighty-eighth  annual  meeting  held  at  the  Depository 
in  Concord,  June  19,  1899,  the  following  named  persons  were 
elected  corporate  members  of  the  Society:  Hon.  David  Cross, 
LL.D.,  Rev.  Cassander  C.  Sampson,  Rev.  William  H.  Hutchin, 
Rev.  Harry  P.  Dewey,  D.D.,  Rev.  John  Vannevar,  D.D.,  Joseph 
C.  A.  Hill,  William  P.  Fiske,  Howard  L.  Porter,  and  Luther 
W.  Durgin. 

Hon.  David  Cross,  was  elected  President.  The  following 
resolutions  were  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  in  the  decease  of  President  Smith,  this 
Society  lost  an  efficient  and  honored  head,  whose  interest  in  its 
prosperity  and  success  was  always  warm  and  abiding;  that 
Dartmouth  College  lost  a  valuable  trustee  and  friend;  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  was  called  to  part  with  a  pure,  earnest  and 
able  laborer  in  its  cause;  that  the  community  and  state  were 
deprived  of  a  citizen  whose  conspicuous  virtues  won  for  him 
universal  respect  and  confidence. 

Resolved,  That  the  memory  of  such  a  life  is  an  inspiration 
to  all  who  knew  it  to  attain  to  like  nobility  and  goodness  of  char- 
acter, and  will  be  tenderly  cherished  by  us  who  were  associated 
with  him  in  the  noble  work  of  this  Society. 

The  canvass  work  for  the  years  1896,  1897,  1898,  and  1899  as 
reported  was  36,964  famihes  visited,  587  found  destitute,  and 
8,699  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation. 


48  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

At  the  eighty-ninth  annual  meeting  held  in  the  Depository  at 
Concord,  June  25,  1900,  the  following  named  persons  were 
elected  corporate  members:  Rev.  George  H.  Reed,  D.D., 
Rev.  Nathaniel  H.  Colby,  D.D.,  Rev.  George  W.  Gile,  D.D., 
and  Rev.  Samuel  H.  McCoilester,  D.D. 

Hon.  David  Cross  and  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken  were  appointed 
delegates  to  attend  the  conference  of  the  representatives  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  in  New  York  City,  October  10. 

Another  re-supply  of  the  state  was  begun,  the  following  named 
persons  being  employed:  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Brown,  Rev.  Edward 
Francis,  Frankhn  S.  Wood,  Roger  A.  Dunlap,  Kimball  K.  Clark, 
and  Thomas  Francis;  and  57,065  families  were  visited  and  548 
Protestant  families  found  destitute  of  the  Scriptures;  4,979 
copies  were  distributed,  6,033  copies  sent  out  from  the  Depository, 
a  total  of  11,012  copies  of  the  Scriptures  put  into  circulation 
during  this  re-supply  of  the  state.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to 
measure  the  results  that  must  follow  the  distribution  of  so  many 
copies  of  the  Word  and  the  rich  blessings  to  individuals,  the 
homes  and  the  churches  of  our  commonwealth. 

At  the  ninetieth  annual  meeting  held  June  17,  1901,  Rev. 
Edwin  W.  Bishop,  D.D.  and  Lewis  Downing  were  elected  corpo- 
rate members.  The  canvass  work  of  the  year  was  continued 
without  delay  or  haste  and  abides  as  good  seed  sown  for  the 
coming  harvest. 

At  the  ninety-first  annual  meeting  held  at  the  Depository 
June  23,  1902,  the  following  named  persons  were  elected  corporate 
members:  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Blodgett,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Hon.  George  B.  Chandler,  Rev.  George  M.  Curl, 
Rev.  Louis  H.  Buckshorn,  and  Henry  McFarland. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  June  22,  1903,  the  following  were 
elected  corporate  members:  Hon.  Robert  J.  Peaslee,  Rev.  Burton 
W.  Lockhart,  D.D.,  and  Dr.  Morris  Christie. 

From  1902  to  1908  but  one  death  occurred  among  the  officers 
of  the  Society, — Dea.  Moses  B.  Smith,  who  died  August  29, 
1904,  at  74  years  of  age.  At  the  annual  meeting  in  June  he  was 
elected  a  director  for  the  twenty-third  time,  having  served 
faithfully  from  1882.     Seldom,  if  ever,  during  these  years  was 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  49 

he  absent  from  the  annual  meeting.  He  took  a  deep  interest 
in  all  religious  work,  was  an  honored  member  of  the  Free  Baptist 
demonination,  and  devoted  to  every  interest  of  this  Society. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  June  2G,  1905,  Rev.  Thomas  H. 
Stacy,  D.D.  and  Fred  S.  Heath  were  elected  corporate  members. 

The  re-supply  of  the  state  which  was  begun  during  the  fall 
of  .1902  and  continued  for  about  six  vears.  resulted  in  visits  to 
109,190  families,  1,149  of  which  were  found  destitute;  the  dis- 
tribution of  13,924  copies  of  the  Scriptures  and  selling  of  33,177 
copies  at  the  Depository. 

The  persons  employed  as  colporteurs  were  Edmund  T.  Oilman, 
Rev.  DeForest  Safford,  Rev.  William  C.  Bartlett,  Rev.  Ezra 
B.  Pike,  Rev.  John  H.  Bartlett,  Miss  Grace  H.  Hayden,  Roger 
A.  Dunlap,  Eben  L.  Poore,  James  H.  Richardson,  and  Royal 
Richardson. 

William  Leeman,  Finnish  colporteur,  visited  the  Finnish 
families  in  Troy,  Fitzwilliam,  Marlborough,  Harrisville,  Jaffrey, 
Milford,  Winchester,  Newport,  Lebanon,  Enfield,  Concord  and 
Manchester,  and  supplied  them  with  Scriptures  in  the  Finnish 
language.  Christodolos  Michitsos,  Greek  colporteur,  visited 
among  the  Greeks  and  Roumanians  in  Manchester,  finding  3,427 
Greeks  and  310  Roumanians,  and  supplied  them  with  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

During  the  year  1906  the  Society  received  one  thousand 
dollars  from  five  ladies  (names  not  given)  with  the  rquest  that 
it  be  immediately  used  for  Bible  work,  either  in  the  state  or  given 
for  national  and  world-wide  work.  The  amount  was  sent  to 
the  American  Bible  Society. 

At  the  ninety-seventh  annual  meeting  held  June  22,  1908, 
Rev.  Edwin  R.  Smith  and  Rev.  Orrison  C.  Sargent  were  elected 
corporate  members.  The  Treasurer  reported  a  gift  of  one 
thousand  dollars  from  Mr.  Samuel  Kidder,  of  Goffstown,  the 
amount  to  be  funded  and  the  income  only  to  be  used  in  Bible 
work. 

The  Secretary's  report  given  at  the  annual  meeting  held  June 
14,  1909  says.  At  the  last  annual  meeting  held  June  22,  1908,  the 


50  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Hon.  Lyman  D.  Stevens  was  elected  to  an  office  for  the  fiftieth 
time.  He  was  then  walking  nearer  the  line  that  divides  this 
from  the  other  world  than  we  knew.  He  died  March  26,  1909,  at 
the  age  of  87  years,  6  months  and  6  days.  He  was  first  elected  an 
auditor  in  1852  and  continued  in  the  office  most  of  the  time  to  the 
day  of  his  death.  He  was  also  a  Vice-President  of  the  Society 
during  1859-60. 

Mr.  Stevens'  ability  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  promptness  and 
exactness  in  all  affairs  of  business,  multiplied  the  demands  upon 
him.  His  conscientious  devotion  to  every  interest  entrusted  to 
him  won  a  large  and  honored  place  for  him  in  the  affairs  of  both 
city  and  state.  He  occupied  many  official  positions,  all  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  public  and  with  credit  to  himself. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions,  and  took  a  deep  interest 
in  religious  matters.  He  left  the  record  of  a  faithful  Christian 
life,  of  a  heart  loyal  to  duty  and  to  God. 

The  Rev.  Jeremiah  S.  Jewett,  a  retired  Methodist  minister, 
died  at  Warren,  N.  H.,  May  23,  1909.  He  was  not  a  member  of 
the  Society,  but  was  deeply  interested  in  Bible  work,  and  in 
1904  gave  the  Society  five  hundred  dollars  to  be  kept  as  a 
fund,  the  income  of  which  is  to  be  used  in  its  work  in  New  Hamp- 
shire.    Men  die,  the  workman  halts,  but  the  work  goes  on. 

William  L.  Stevens,  Esq.  was  elected  a  corporate  member  of 
the  Society. 

The  Secretary  was  a  delegate  of  the  American  Bible  Society 
to  the  World  Missionary  Conference  at  Edinburgh  during  the 
month  of  June,  1910. 

The  delegates  of  the  Bible  Societies  attending  the  Conference 
were  given  a  reception  by  the  directors  of  the  National  Bible 
Society  of  Scotland.  A  number  of  the  representatives,  including 
Lord  Kinniard  and  Sir  Andrew  Wingate  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society,  the  ten  delegates  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  and  the  several  delegates  from  Continental  societies 
were  present. 

The  guests  were  received  by  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Andrew 
H.  L.  Eraser,  president  of  the  National  Society,  and  Lady  Eraser. 

During  1910  Christodolos  Michitsos,  Greek  colporteur, 
visited  among  the  Greeks  and  Roumanians  in  Nashua,  Dover, 
Somersworth  and  Rochester  in  the  interests  of  Bible  distribution 


Rev.  Alfred  Langdon  Elwyn. 

Director,  1897- 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  51 

and  found  about  three  thousand  of  his  nationality  and  a  large 
number  of  Roumanians  and  Syrians.  During  the  year  5,408  cop- 
ies of  the  Scriptures  were  sent  out  from  the  Depository. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  work  by  the  Society  the  Scriptures 
were  sold  and  donated  only  in  the  English  tongue.  About  fifty 
years  ago  a  demand  arose  for  them  in  the  French  and  German 
languages.  Today  there  are  in  New  Hampshire  forty-two 
nationalities  and  we  have  in  stock  at  the  Depository,  for  constant 
use  in  the  canvass  work,  the  Scriptures  in  twenty-eight  foreign 
tongues;  Albanian,  Arabic,  Armenian,  Bohemian,  Bulgarian, 
Chinese,  Danish,  Dutch,  Finnish,  French,  German,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  Hungarian,  Italian,  Japanese,  Latin,  Norwegian,  Polish, 
Portuguese,  Roumanian,  Russian,  Slavonian,  Spanish,  Swedish, 
Syriac,  Welsh,  and  Yiddish.  The  homes  of  these  nationalities 
are  visited  by  the  colporteur  in  the  interest  of  Bible  distribution, 
and,  so  far  as  permitted,  these  people  are  supplied  with  the  mes- 
sage of  good  tidings  in  their  native  tongue.  If  opportunity  is 
to  measure  the  future  work  of  the  Society,  the  close  of  the  first 
century  of  its  existence  calls  for  an  enlargement  of  its  work,  for 
the  Bible  has  not  lost  its  hold  on  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the 
people. 

The  one  hundredth  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  at 
the  Depository  in  Concord,  June  5,  1911.  The  following  named 
officers  were  re-elected : 

President,  Hon.  David  Cross. 

Vice-Presidents,  Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  Rev.  Warren  R. 
Cochrane,  Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins. 

Directors,  John  C.  Thorne,  Rev.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn,  Rev.  George 
M.  Curl,  Fred  S.  Heath. 

Secretary,  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken. 

Treasurer,  Hon.  John  Kimball. 

Auditors,  William  L.  Stevens,  Luther  W.  Durgin. 

William  K.  McFarland  was  elected  a  corporate  member  of  the 
Society. 

The  Board  of  Directors  met  immediately  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  annual  meeting  and  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken  was  re- 
elected Superintendent. 

The  following  named  persons  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
arrange  for  the  Centennial  Anniversary:     Hon.  David  Cross, 


52  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Hon.  William  M.  Chase,  Hon.  John  Kimball,  Rev.  George  H. 
Reed,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken.  It  was  voted  to  hold 
the  Centennial  Anniversary  in  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
Concord,  N.  H.,  June  1-3,  1912,  and  to  extend  invitations  to  the 
Hon.  Justice  J.  Gordon  Forbes,  Vice-President  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  of  London,  resident  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  to  the  New  England 
State  Bible  Societies,  to  the  New  York  (City)  Bible  Society,  and 
to  such  other  individuals  and  Societies  as  the  Committee  advise. 

The  following  action  was  taken,  defining  the  relation  which  has 
existed  between  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  and  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  since  the  organization  of  the  National  Society 
in  1816: 

Voted,  That  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  has  no  organic 
or  contractural  connection  with  the  American  Bible  Society,  that 
the  connection  between  the  Societies  is  co-operative  and  sym- 
pathetic, and  that  the  gifts  from  the  State  Society  to  the  Na- 
tional Society  were  the  expression  of  a  general  charitable  purpose 
toward  that  Society,  and  not  as  a  proposition  in  any  way  binding 
the  Societies  in  a  contractural  sense,  that  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  has  esteemed  it  a  privilege  to  contribute  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  its  National  and  world- 
wide work,  and  undoubtedly  will  in  the  future  contribute  from  its 
surplus  earnings  to  the  support  of  the  work  of  that  Society. 

The  canvass  work  of  the  Society  for  the  year  was  among  the 
foreign  speaking  people  of  the  state  and  largely  in  the  cities  of 
Manchester  and  Nashua.  Colporteurs  report  that  forty  nation- 
alities were  found  in  the  two  cities.  A  special  effort  was  made  to 
visit  the  families  of  the  French,  and  several  thousand  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  were  placed  in  their  homes. 

A  Greek  colporteur  was  also  in  the  employ  of  the  Society  work- 
ing among  his  nationahty.  The  Greek  population  of  the  cities 
has  nearly  doubled  since  the  canvass  of  two  years  ago  the  present 
number  being  about  8,000,  and  there  were  found  806  Roumanians, 
325  Armenians,  110  Syrians,  52  Albanians  and  46  Turks.  The 
needs  of  the  Swedes,  Hungarians,  Finns,  Itahans,  Armenians  and 
Polanders  were  looked  after  throughout  the  state.  The  sales 
and  donations  of  the  Society  in  its  work  for  nine  months  of  the 
fiscal  year  to  March  1,  1912,  were  7,139  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
distributed.     This  canvass  is  the  third  special  canvass  among  the 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  53 

foreign  speaking  people  of  the  state  made  during  the  past  five 
years. 

During  the  year  the  Societ}^  received  a  legacy  of  two  thousand 
and  eight  hundred  dollars  from  the  estate  of  Mrs.  Orra  A,  R. 
Co  burn,  late  of  Londonderry^,  also  a  legacy  of  five  thousand 
dollars  from  Miss  Sarah  W.  Kendall,  late  of  Nashua,  and  also  a 
notice  of  a  legacy  of  one  thousand  dollars  from  Miss  Mary  A. 
Hadley,  late  of  Goffstown. 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  EXERCISES 

OF   THE 

CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY 

OF   THE 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE  BIBLE  SOCIETY 

to  be  held  in  the 

First  Congregational  Church 

Concord,  N.  H. 

June  first,  second  and  third. 

Saturday,  June  first 
at  2  o'clock  p.  m. 
Gathering  of  the  New  England  and  New  York  (City)  Bible  Societies  with 
their  invited  guests 

Address:  Edmund  T.  Garland 

Superintendent  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Maine 

7.45  p.  m. 
Address:  Rev.  Frederick  B.  Allen 

Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society 

Sunday,  June  second 
10.30  a.  m. 
Representatives  from  the  Bible  Societies  as  Speakers  in    the    Churches    of 
Concord 

7.30  p.  m. 

UNION  SERVICE 

at  the 

First  Congregational  Church 

Where  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  was  organized, 

June  3,  1812 

Address:  Hon.  J.  Gordon  Forbes 

Vice-President  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  of  London,  England 

Address:  Rev.  William  I.  Haven,  D.D. 

Secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society 


54  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Monday,  June  third 
10.00  a.  m. 

AT    THE 

First  Congregational  Church 

THE  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 
BIBLE  SOCIETY 

Devotional  Service:  Rev.  George  H.  Reed,  D.  D. 

Historical  Address:  Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken 

Fraternal  Greetings  from  Representative  and  Delegates  of  other  Bible 

Societies 
Reports  of  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
Election  of  Corporate  Members 
Election  of  officers,  and  the  transaction  of  such  other  business  as  may  legally 

come  before  the  Society 
Adjournment 


The  following  statistics  belong  to  the  story  of  a  hundred  years 
of  Bible  work  in  New  Hampshire,  as  illustrative  of  the  service 
which  the  Society  has  rendered  to  the  state,  and  through  the 
American  Bible  Society,  to  the  Nation  and  to  the  World. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  amount  given  in  New  Hamp- 
shire for  Bible  work,  state,  national,  and  world-wide,  during  the 
hundred  years  is  $497,261.91,  and  653,562  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— Bibles  and  portions  thereof — have  been  put  into  circulation. 
Of  this  number,  11,874  copies  costing  $11,874.00  were  given  to 
life  members  and  101,405  copies  costing  $31,776.76  were  donated 
to  27,292  destitute  and  needy  families.  The  expense  of  the  state 
work  has  been  $155,657.94. 

The  sum  of  $181,564.21  has  been  sent  in  donations,  legacies, 
church  collections  and  individual  gifts  from  New  Hampshire  to 
the  American  Bible  Society  for  national  and  world-wide  work 
and  $116,389.00  has  been  funded.  Also  $159,421.41  has  been 
paid  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  $61,523.82  to  other 
parties  for  books. 

INVESTED  FUNDS  OF  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  BIBLE  SOCIETY, 
APRIL    1,    1912. 

Gov.  John  Langdon  Fund $1,042.00 

Thankful  Shepard  Fund 1,000.00 

Horace  A.  Haven  Fund 1,000.00 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  55 

SaUy  Batchelder  Fund $1,000.00 

Moses  P.  Page  Fund 2,500.00 

Betsey  Whitehouse  Fund 5,000.00 

Jeremiah  Straw  Fund ! 1,400.00 

Rev.  William  Richardson  Fund 40,000 .00 

Lucy  Spaulding  Fund 10,000.00 

Sophronia  C.  Thompson  Fund 2,362 .00 

Lovey  A.  Lang  Fund 500.00 

Edward  Spalding  Fund 5,000.00 

Sarah  A.  Wood  Fund 500.00 

Lucy  B.  Richardson  Fund 1,225.00 

Mary  W.  Thompson  Fund 500.00 

Dea.  James  Boyd  Fund 8,500.00 

Gov.  Frederick  Smythe  Fund 1,000.00 

Josephine  E.  Boylston  Fund 1,000.00 

Phebe  M.  Lane  Fund 600.00 

Dorcas  Emerson  Fund 400 .00 

Dea.  Abel  C.  Crosby  Fund 300.  00 

Ambrose  Gould  Fund 610.00 

Persis  S.  Wilson  Fund 1,150.00 

Rev.  Jeremiah  S.  Jewett  Fund 500.00 

Andrew  N.  Shepard  Fund 3,000.00 

Jacob  Gould  Fund 300.00 

Mrs.  WiUiam  G.  Brown  Fund 100.00 

Dea.  William  G.  Brown  Fund 3,000.00 

Mrs.  E.  A.  Morrill  Fund 900.00 

Samuel  Kidder  Fund 1,000.00 

John  H.  Upham  Fund 200.00 

Mrs.  Orra  A.  R.  Coburn  Fund 2,800.00 

Sarah  W.  Kendall  Fund 5,000.00 

General  Fund 13,000.00 


Total  $116,389.00 

The  invested  funds  now  belonging  to  the  Society  were  received 
mostly  by  legacies  and  gifts.  No  losses  have  been  suffered,  but 
on  the  other  hand,  the  fund  has  increased  somewhat  by  reason 
of  being  invested  in  securities  that  have  appreciated  while  held 
by  the  Society. 

Three  legacies  received  during  the  earlier  years,  and  forwarded 
to  the  American  Bible  Society,  have  been  replaced  from  the  in- 
come of  the  Society  and  now  appear  among  the  invested  funds, 
namely:  those  of  Gov.  John  Langdon,  Mrs.  Thankful  Shepard, 
and  Horace  Appleton  Haven.  The  Moses  P.  Page  Fund,  the 
Rev.  Jeremiah  S.  Jewett  Fund,  and  the  Samuel  Kidder  Fund 
were  gifts  while  the  donors  were  Uving. 


56  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF    THE 

The  Dea.  William  G.  Brown  Fund  was  contributed  by  his 
friends  as  a  memorial  of  his  work  in  behalf  of  the  Society.  The 
General  Fund  represents  a  large  number  of  legacies  too  small  to 
be  Usted  separately. 

THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  BIBLE  SOCIETY, 
ELECTED  JUNE  3,  1812. 

President. 
His  Excellency,  Governor  John  Langdon. 

Vice-President. 
Rev.  Seth  Payson,  D.D. 

Secretary. 
Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D. 

Treasurer. 
Jonathan  Wilkins,  Esq., 

Directors. 
Daniel  Emerson,  Esq.  Major  John  Mills, 

Rev.  John  Smith,  Rev.  Fred  Paige. 

Auditors. 
Rev.  Abraham  Biu-nham,  Deacon  Abiel  Rolfe. 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  BIBLE  SOCIETY, 
ELECTED  FOR  THE  YEAR  ENDING  MAY  31,  1912. 

President. 
Hon.  David  Cross,  LL.D. 

Vice-Presidents. 
Hon.  Wilham  M.  Chase,  LL.  D.       Rev.  Warren  R.  Cochrane,  D.D. 
Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins,  D.D. 

Directors. 
John  C.  Thome,  Rev.  George  M.  Curl, 

Rev.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn,  Fred  S.  Heath. 

Secretary. 
Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken, 

Treasurer. 
Hon.  John  Kimball. 

Superintendent. 
Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken, 

Auditors. 
William  L.  Stevens,  Luther  W.  Durgin, 


Rev.  Elisha  Adams,  D.D. 

Director,  1858-1860;  1868-1878. 
Vice-President,  1878-1881. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  57 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  FROM  1812  TO  1912. 

Presidents. 

His  Excellency  Governor  John  Langdon,  LL.D 1812-14 

Hon.  Timothy  Farrar 1814-17 

Hon.  Robert  Means 1817-18 

Prof.  Ebenezer  Adams 1818-41 

Hon.  Daniel  Adams 1841-60 

Hon.  Edward  Spalding,  LL.D 1860-95 

Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith,  LL.D 1896-98 

Hon.  David  Cross,  LL.D 1899- 

Vice-Presidents . 

Rev.  Seth  Payson,  D.D 1812-20 

Ebenezer  Adams 1813-18 

Rev.  Nathan  Parker,  D.D 1813-15 

Rev.  Fred  Paige 1815-16 

Rev.  John  Kelley 1816-23 

Dea.  Amos  Tappan 1818-20 

Gov.  David  L.  MorriU 1820-29 

Joseph  Haven 1820-21 

Hon.  Edmund  Parker 1821-33 

Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  D.D 1823-26 

Rev.  Charles  Burroughs 1826-33 

Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D 1829-38 

Hon.  Joel  Parker,  LL.D 1833-34 

Rev.  Israel  W.  Putnam,  D.D 1833-35 

Gov.  Wilham  Badger 1834-41 

Rev.  John  Woods 1835-52 

Rev.  Z.  S.Barstow,  D.D 1838-50 

Hon.  John  Folsom 1841-47 

Gen.  Robert  Davis 1847-52 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D 1850-52 

Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D 1852-63 

Samuel  Fletcher 1852-59 

Richard  Boylston 1852-55 

Bishop  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D 1855-72 

Hon.  Lyman  D.  Stevens 1859-60 

Gov.  Matthew  Harvey 1860-66 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D 1863-72 

Rev.  Ebenezer  E.  Cummings,  D.D 1866-80 

Rev.  James  Pike 1872-75 

Rev.  Silas  L.  Blake,  D.D 1873-75 

Rev.  Frederick  Alvord 1875-78 

Rev.  Daniel  J.  Smith    1875-76 

Rev.  James  Thurston 1876-78 

Rev.  Ehsha  Adams,  D.D 1878-81 

Rev.  Edward  Robie,  D.D 1878-79 


58  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Rev.  Isaac  WUley 1879-81 

Rev.  Silas  Curtis 1880-93 

Rev.  Charles  Parkhurst,  D.D 1881-83 

Hon.  Jonathan  E.  Sargent,  LL.D 1881-90 

Rev.  Sullivan  Holman 1883-88 

Rev.  Samuel  C.  Keeler. 1888-96 

Hon.  William  M.  Chase 1890- 

Rev.  James  K.  Ewer 1893-94 

Rev.  Ashael  S.  GUbert 1894-97 

Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins,  D.D 1896- 

Rev.  Warren  R.  Cochrane,  D.D 1897- 

Secretaries. 

Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D 1812-24 

Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D 1824r-28 

Rev.  Daniel  Lancaster 1828-41 

Rev.  Joseph  Lane 1841-50 

Rev.  Isaac  Willey 1850-75 

Rev.  Silas  L.  Blake,  D.D 1875-78 

Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  D.D 1878-98 

Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken 1898- 

Treasurers. 

Jonathan  WUkins 1812-14 

George  Hough 1814-21 

Nathaniel  Abbott 1821-30 

Asaph  Evans 1830-  38 

Dr.  Thomas  Chadbourne 1838-50 

Henry  A.  NewhaU 1850-54 

Rev.  Benjamin  P.  Stone,  D.D 1854-71 

Dea.  Hazen  Pickering 1871-71 

Hon.  John  Kimball,  A.M 1871- 

Directors. 

D  aniel  Emerson 1812-21 

Rev.  John  Smith,  D.D 1812-18 

Maj.  John  MUls 1812-19 

Rev.  Fred  Paige 1812-15 

Rev.  Stephen  Chapin,  D.D 1815-19 

Rev.  Jonathan  French,  D.D 1818-31 

George  Woodman 1819-22 

Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D 1819-24 

Joseph  Colby 1821-24 

Samuel  Fletcher 1822-28 

Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D 1824-2& 

Joshua  Darling 1824-25 

Stephen  Goodhue 1825-27 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  59 

Samuel  L.  Wilder 1827-28 

Hon.  Samuel  Morrill 1828-33 

Andrew  Bowers 1828-29 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D 1829-33 

Newton  Whittlesey 1829-30 

Ebenezer  Wheelwright 1830-31 

Rev.  Calvin  Cutler 1831-33 

Hon.  John  Vose 1831-33 

Rev.  John  Woods 1833-35 

Rev.  Archibald  Burgess 1833-49 

Ehjah  Parker .■;;;'  18.33-34 

Ormond  Button 1833-34 

Jonathan  Cummings 1834-49 

Stephen  C.  Lyford 1834-35 

Rev.  Calvin  Cutler 1835-39 

Samuel  Fletcher 1839-42 

Rev.  John  Jones 1841-43 

Rev.  Elisha  Adams,  D.D 1868-78 

Rev.  Silas  Curtis 1870-80 

Rev.  Cyrus  W.  Wallace,  D.D 1871-73 

Rev.  Edward  G.  Selden 1875-78 

Rev.  William  J.  Tucker,  D.D 1873-75 

Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  D.D 1875-78 

Rev.  William  H.  Alden,  D.D 1878-79 

Rev.  Charles  E.  Harrington,  D.D 1878-82 

Rev.  William  Elkins '  1878-79 

Rev.  E.  C.  Spinney 1879-80 

Rev.  E.  C.  Bass '  1879-81 

Rev.  William  V.  Garner 1880-84 

Dea.  Frederick  S.  Crawford 1880-81 

Rev.  DeWitt  C.  Durgin,  D.D [[[\[  1866-70 

Richard  Boylston 1835-39 

Rev.  Asa  P.  Tenney 1839-41 

Nathaniel  Abbott 1842-44 

Rev.  S.  L.  McCurdy *.'.'*."*  1343-44 

Rev.  Eleazer  Smith 1844-50 

Hon.  Nathaniel  S.  Berry 1848-50 

Rev.  Jonathan  McGee 1849-52 

Dea.  A.  K.  Merrill ""  1849-50 

Prof.  John  Dempster,  D.D 1850-51 

Dr.  Thomas  Chadbourne 1840-54 

Hon.  Alvah  Smith 1850-51 

Rev.  Eleazer  Smith 1851-52 

Rev.  J.  H.  MerriU 1851-52 

Rev.  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D 1852-55 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D 1852-58 

Dea.  J.  A.  Wheat *  [  1852-55 

Henry  A.  Newhall 1854-56 


60  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Rev.  Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  D.D 1855-57 

Dea.  William  G.  Brown , 1855-71 

Dr.  Thomas  Chadbourne, 1856-  61 

Rev.  Cyrus  W.  Wallace,  D.D 1857-61 

Rev.  Elisha  Adams 1858-60 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D 1860-63 

■     Rev.  William  T.  Savage,  D.D 1861-75 

Rev.  N.-M.  BaUey 1861-62 

Rev.  Josiah  P.  Nutting 1862-63 

Rev.  C.  W.  Flanders,  D.D 1863-66 

Rev.  C.  O.  Libbey 1863-66 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Chase 1866-68 

Rev.  Sullivan  Holman 1881-83 

Dea.  John  C.  Thorne 1881- 

Dea.  Moses  B.  Smith 1882-1904 

Rev.  George  W.  Norris 1883-91 

Dea.  Abraham  A.  Prescott 1884-88 

Rev.  James  K.  Ewer 1888-93 

Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins,  D.D 1891-96 

Rev.  Warren  R.  Cochrane,  D.D 1893-96 

Rev.  George  M.  Ciu-1 1896-97 

Rev.  Daniel  C.  Knowles  D.D 1897-1900 

Rev.  Alfred  L.  Elwyn 1897- 

Rev.  William  H.  Hutchin 1900-05 

Rev.  George  M.  Curl 1905-11 

Fred  S.  Heath 1905- 

Superintendents. 

Dea.  William  G..Brown 1877-92 

Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken 1892- 

The  list  of  the  executive  officers  of  the  Society  includes  five 
governors,  seven  judges,  three  presidents  of  Dartmouth  College, 
college  professors,  clergymen  from  all  the  larger  denominations, 
lawyers  of  high  repute,  and  men  prominent  in  the  business,  politi- 
cal and  social  life  of  the  state,  and  all  served  the  Society  with 
zeal  and  fidelity.  The  number  of  years  of  service  rendered  by  the 
Presidents,  Vice-Presidents,  Secretaries  and  Treasurers  can  be 
found  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

The  following  named  Directors  have  each  rendered  faithful  ser- 
vice for  five  or  more  years:  Daniel  Emerson,  Rev.  John  Smith, 
D.D.,  Maj.  John  Mills,  Rev.  Jonathan  French,  D.D.,  Rev. 
Nathan  Lord,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rev.  John  H.  Church,  D.D.,  Hon. 
Samuel  Morrill,  Rev.  Archibald  Burgess,  Jonathan  Cummings, 
Rev.  Elisha  Adams,  D.D.,  Rev.  Silas  Curtis,  D.D.,  Rev.  Charles 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  61 

E.  Harrington,  D.D.,  Rev.  DeWitt  C.  Durgin,  D.D.,  Dr.  Thomas 
Chadbourne,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.D.,  Dea.  John  C. 
Thornc,  Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  Rev.  Cyrus  W.  Wallace,  D.D., 
Dea.  Moses  B.  Smith,  Rev.  George  W.  Norris,  Rev.  James  K, 
Ewer,  Rev.  Joseph  E.  Robins,  D.D.,  Rev.  George  M.  Curl, 
Rev.  Alfred  Elwyn,  Rev.  William  H.  Hutchin,  and  Fred  S. 
Heath.  Dea.  John  C.  Thorne  has  filled  the  office  of  a  director 
the  longest  number  of  years,  having  been  elected  in  1881  and  still 
remains  in  office. 

The  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  has  had  one  thousand  and 
five  annual  members,  and  one  thousand  and  eighty-three  life 
members.  The  last  annual  member  of  the  Society,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Green,  of  Pembroke,  died  during  1904.  Seventy-four  of  the  life 
members  are  now  living.  The  corporate  members  of  the  Society 
elected  under  the  charter  of  1897,  number  twenty-two. 

LIFE  MEMBERS  1912. 

Aiken,  Rev.  E.  J Concord 

Aiken,  Mrs.  E.J Concord 

Andrews,  Frank  P Concord 

Andrews,  Marianna Chester,  Vt. 

Avann,  Rev.  J.  W Gary,  Ind. 

Ayer,  Rev.   Franklin  D.,  D.D Concord 

Bayard,  Mrs.  Mary  A Deerfield 

Bell,  Eliza  U Exeter 

Chase,  Mrs.  Nellie  S Northfield 

Cilley,  Rev.  Moses  T Merrimackport,  Mass. 

Colby,  Rev.  Nathaniel  L Manchester 

Conn,  Dr.  Granville  P Concord 

Conway,  Mrs.  A.  L.  L Address  unknown 

Corser,  Clara  G Lebanon 

Cromack,  Emma  M Rochester 

Cross,  Mrs.  Alvin  B Concord 

Dudley,  Mrs.  Daniel  W Newport 

Durrell,  Rev.  Jesse  M.,  D.D Tilton 

Eaton,  Luther  P Harrisville 

Elliott,  Henry  S Concord 

Elwyn,  Rev.  Alfred  L Portsmouth 

Emerson,  Mrs.  George Muskegon, Mich. 

Forrest,  Honora  A Tilton 

Forrest,  Josephine  M Tilton 

Forreeto,  Sarah  E Merrimack 

Gage,  Mabel  C Concord 

Gerould,  Mrs.  Laura  E Goffstown 


62  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Goodwin,  Joseph  S Londonderry 

Hale,  Mrs.  W.  S Keene 

Hannaford,  Emilie  A Peterboro 

Hatch,  Ellen  E Merrimack 

Harrington,  Rev.  Charles  E HoUiston,  Mass. 

Hartshorn,  Frankhn Amherst 

Hartshorn,  Mrs.  E.  P Amherst 

Hartshorn,  Hattie  M Amherst 

Hartshorn,  Levi Amherst 

Hill,  WiUiam  H Keene 

Hoffman,  Mrs.  H.  S Henniker 

Holbrook,  Mrs.  George Manchester 

Kenyon,  William  O Plainfield 

Kimball,  John Concord 

Langdon,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Elwyn Portsmouth 

Littlefield,  Anna  M New  London 

Marston,  Laura  A Deerfield 

Minot,  Mrs.  Fanny  E Concord 

Morey,  Thomas  P Lowell,  Mass. 

Morrill,  Albro Tilton 

Morrill,  Robert Canterbury 

Morrill,  Bert  Smith Canterbury 

Morrill,  Obe     Northfield 

Noyes,  Mrs.  H.  S Chester 

Noyes,  Mary  Belle Chester 

Partridge,  Mrs.  Susan  E Winchendon,  Mass. 

PettingUl,  Flora  M Loudon 

Putnam,  Mrs.  A.  S.  K Wilton 

Quimby,  Rev.  Silas  E Tilton 

Richardson,  Mrs.  Mary  R Dublin 

Richardson,  Joshua DubUn 

Richardson,  Mrs.  N.  H Lancaster 

Robertson,  Mrs.  Belle  W Northfield 

Robie,  Rev.  Edward,  D.  D Greenland 

Roy,  Mrs.  Mabel  E Northfield 

Sanborn,  Katie Northfield 

Scribner,  Celia Newport 

Stevens,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Hoyt Concord 

Tenney,  Rev.  Edward  P Manchester,  Mass. 

Ward,  Rev.  Arthur  N Somerville,  Mass. 

Webster,  Daniel  D Boscawen 

Weeks,  Ellen  M Greenland 

Wilkins,  Mrs.  Lucy  A Amherst 

Willey,  Mary  C San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Wood,  Mary  J Francestown 

Wyatt,  Mrs.  Sarah  J Tilton 

Young,  Mrs.  Ida  E Deerfield 


Rev.  Edwin  J.  Aiken. 

Superintendent,  1892- 
Secretary,  1898-19)2. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  63 

CORPORATE  MEMBERS  1912. 

Buckshorn,  Rev.  Louis  H Concord 

Chase,  Hon.  William  M Concord 

Colby,  Rev.  Nathaniel  L Manchester 

Cross,  Hon.  David Manchester 

Durgin,  Luther  W Concord 

Elwyn,  Rev.  Alfred  L Portsmouth 

Fiske,  William  P Concord 

Heath,  Fred  S Concord 

Ivnowles,  Rev.  Daniel  C,  D.D Tilton 

Lockhart,  Rev.  Burton  W.,  D.D Manchester 

McCoUester,  Rev.  Samuel  H.,  D.D Marlboro 

McFarland,  William  K Concord 

Peaslee,  Hon.  Robert  J Manchester 

Reed,  Rev.  George  H.,  D.D Concord 

Robins,  Rev.  Joseph  E.,  D.D Peterboro 

Sampson,  Rev.  Cassander  C Tilton 

Sargent,  Rev.  Orrison  C Concord 

Smith,  Rev.  Edwin  R Concord 

Stacy,  Rev.  Thomas  H.,  D.D Concord 

Stevens,  William  L Concord 

Thome,  John  C .  .• Concord 

Vaimevar,  Rev.  John,  D.D Concord 


COUNTY  BIBLE   SOCIETIES. 

The  first  mention  of  County  Bible  Societies  as  independent 
organizations  with  auxiUary  relations  to  the  State  Society  is  made 
in  the  annual  report  of  1815.  The  Board  of  Directors  at  a  meet- 
ing held  in  HolHs,  Oct.  26,  voted,  "That  measures  be  taken  to 
form  County  AuxiUary  Bible  Societies." 

The  Cheshire  County  Society,  with  Hon.  Levi  Jackson  as 
President,  was  organized  Oct.  17,  1816;  the  Hillsborough  County 
Society,  with  Hon.  David  L.  Morrill  as  President  June  3,  1817. 
The  Rockingham  County  Charitable  Society,  with  Hon.  Oliver 
Peabody  as  President,  was  organized  April  30,  1817;  and  the 
Grafton  County  Charitable  Society  in  1818;  and  later  in  1830 
these  two  Charitable  Societies  were  re-organized  as  County 
Bible  Societies. 

These  Societies  voted  to  assist  the  State  Society  by  appointing 
agents  in  each  town  for  the  searching  for  destitute  families,  for 
the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  solicit  contribution 
for  state  Bible  work.     The  Sullivan  County  Society  was  organ 


64  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

ized  during  1823,  and  the  Strafford  County  Society,  with  Rev. 
Samuel  Hidden  as  President,  June  5,  1827. 

For  many  years  the  Bible  work  in  Merrimack  County  was  done 
by  the  Hopkinton  Association  of  Congregational  ministers.  Large 
sums  of  money  were  raised  for  the  State  Society  and  destitute 
families  were  sought  and  supplied.  Town  societies  were  organized 
throughout  the  County  and  each  local  society  had  its  agent. 

The  Merrimack  County  Union  Bible  Society  was  organized 
during  1845;  the  Carroll  County  Society,  with  Rev.  John  Chick 
as  President,  October  11,  1859;  the  Coos  County  Society, 
with  the  Hon,  Turner  Stephenson  as  President,  October 
19;  and  the  Belknap  County  Society,  with  Col.  Rufus  G.  Lewis 
as  President,  December  27  of  the  same  year.  Strafford  County 
Society,  with  Hon.  Asa  Fresman  as  President,  was  re-organized 
at  Dover,  January  24,  1860. 

A  great  interest  was  maintained  in  these  County  organizations 
for  many  yaars,  largely  due  to  the  earnest  and  untiring  efforts 
of  Dea.  Wilham  G.  Brown,  and  the  constant  attendance  upon 
the  annual  meetings  of  the  Societies  by  Rev.  Isaac  Willey, 
Secrstary  of  the  State  Society  from  1850  to  1875,  and  the  Rev. 
Franklin  D.  Ayer,  Secretary  from  1878  to  1898. 

In  order  that  more  people  might  attend  the  meetings,  the 
larger  Counties  were  divided.  During  1860  Grafton  County 
was  divided  into  Grafton  West  Bible  Society,  with  Dea.  Abel  K. 
Merrill  as  President,  February  1,  and  Grafton  East,  with  His 
Excellency  Nathaniel  S.  Berry  as  President,  February  22,  and 
a  Society  was  formed  March  20,  called  the  Coos  and  North 
Grafton  County,  with  Dea.  Willard  King  as  President.  A 
Society  was  organized  June  6,  farther  north,  with  Rev.  Henry 
M.  Bridge  as  President,  called  the  Bible  Society  of  Colebrook 
and  vicinity.  Two  Societies  were  formed  in  Rockingham  County 
to  be  known  as  the  Rockingham  County  East,  with  the  Hon. 
Ichabod  Goodwin  as  President,  March  27,  and  Rockingham 
County  West  Bible  Society,  with  Dr.  Ira  Watson  as  President, 
December  3,  1861. 

Hillsborough  County  was  divided,  and  Hillsborough  County 
North  with  Moses  Sawyer  as  President,  organized  May  21,  1862, 
and  Hillsborough  County  South,  with  Dr.  Hezekiah  Eldridge  as 
President,  March  24,  1863.  The  Sullivan  County  Society  was 
re-organized  with  Hon.  Dexter  Richards  as  President,  November 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  65 

4,  1865.  Merrimack  County  was  clividtKl,  and  the  Kearsarge 
Bible  Society,  with  Rev.  Edward  Buxton  as  President,  was 
organized  September  26,  1865,  and  the  Suncock  Bible  Society, 
with  the  Hon.  Richard  P.  J.  Tenney,  M.D.  as  President,  Sep- 
tember 12,  1868. 

January  1,  1885  there  W3re  fifteen  county  and  local  Bible 
societies  in  the  state.  Many  prominent  men  and  clergymen  from 
all  denominations  with  other  Christian  workers  were  connected 
with  these  societies.  The  annual  meetings  were  held  in  different 
places  each  year  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  neigliboring 
citizens  and  their  children  to  attend  them  and  become  interested 
in  Bible  work. 

With  the  death  of  William  G.  Brown,  Superintendent,  April 

5,  1892,  and  the  resignation  of  Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  State  Society  June  13,  1898,  the  interest  in  the  County 
Society  meetings  began  to  wane.  County  Associations  of  reli- 
gious workers  along  other  lines  of  effort  were  organized,  and  it 
was  thought  best  for  the  County  Bible  Society  organizations  to 
withdraw  from  active  service.  A  number  of  the  societies  united 
with  the  County  Sunday  School  Associations,  and  for  years 
these  bodies  worked  together.  Other  societies  voted  to  continue 
their  organizations,  but  to  discontinue  the  annual  gatherings. 
The  seventy-five  years  of  work  done  by  the  larger  part  of  the 
County  Societies  served  to  keep  alive  in  the  hearts  of  thousands 
an  interest  in  Bible  work  in  the  state,  in  the  nation,  and  in  the 
world.  The  meetings  brought  together  warm  Christian  hearts 
from  different  denominations,  and  were  occasions  of  pleasant 
social  reunions,  and  for  many  years  were  the  only  interdenomi- 
national religious  gatherings  in  the  state. 

The  names  of  the  early  organizers  of  the  County  Bible  Societies 
in  New  Hampshire  are  not  given  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
State  Society,  but  probably  it  was  the  work  of  Rev.  John  H. 
Church,  D.D.,  of  Pelham,  and  Rev.  Seth  Payson,  D.D.,  of  Rindge. 
Rev.  Isaac  Willey,  for  twenty-five  years  the  Secretary  of  the 
State  Society,  re-organized  many  of  the  societies  and  did  much 
to  continue  their  existence.  But  to  Dea.  William  G.  Brown,  who 
for  forty-four  years  was  a  colporteur,  and  for  fifteen  of  the  years 
the  Superintendent  of  the  State  Society,  more  than  to  any  other, 
belongs  the  credit  of  the  long  continued  and  faithful  service 
rendered  by  the  County  Bible  Societies. 


66  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

LADIES'   BIBLE  ASSOCIATIONS. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  show 
that  the  Female  Cent  Institutions  organized  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
K.  McFarland  in  1804  were  a  great  source  of  income  to  the  state 
Society  during  the  earlier  years  of  its  existence.  From  1812  to 
the  formation  of  the  Female  Bible  Associations  in  1824  their 
contributions  to  Bible  work  amounted  to  about  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  for  more  than  twenty-five  years  the  Cent  Institu- 
tions continued  this  work  of  benevolence. 

The  following  resolution  was  presented  and  adopted  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  held  Sep- 
tember 8,  1824: 

Resolved,  That  this  Society  hear  with  peculiar  pleasure  of  the 
formation  and  utility  of  Bible  Associations,  especially  among 
females,  and  earnestly  hope  that  they  may  be  formed  in  every 
town  in  New  Hampshire,  and  be  the  means  of  promoting  the 
circulation  of  the  Bible  extensively  throughout  the  state,  through- 
out the  country,  and  throughout  the  world. 

Voted,  That  the  Directors  be  requested  to  take  measures  for 
carrying  into  effect  this  resolution. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  it  was  voted.  That 
the  Prudential  Committee,  Rev.  John  H.  Church,  Hon.  Edmund 
Parker,  and  Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  be  authorized  to  appoint  agents 
for  carrying  the  resolution  into  effect.  Tha  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Stow  was  engaged  for  this  special  work.  He  began  with  Straf- 
ford and  Hillsborough  Counties  and  in  almost  every  town  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  one  or  more  associations. 

Mr.  Stow  seems  to  have  been  a  very  judicious  man.  He 
worked  among  all  denominations  of  Christians  and  all  were 
found  ready  to  co-operate  in  the  great  object  of  his  mission. 
Another  agent,  Mr.  Samuel  Delano,  was  employed  in  Grafton 
and  Coos  Counties,  and  he  also  ex3cuted  his  trust  with  fidelity 
and  success.  During  four  months  of  the  year  1824,  they  formed 
fifty-one  associations,  and  contributions  amounting  to  $523.29 
were  received.  The  second  year  the  number  had  increased  to 
seventy-six,  and  in  1828  to  one  hundred  thirty-eight,  the  largest 
number  organized  in  the  state.  During  this  year  contributions 
amounting  to  $967.00  were  sent  to  ths  state  Society. 

The  following  towns  reported  Ladies'   Bible  Associations  in 


'I'm.   Mi.Kn.\(.  Jl(n>i,,  Co:v(..ki>,  .\ .  11., 
Where  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  was  orfraiiized  June  3d,  1812. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  67 

1828:  Alstead,  Alton,  Amherst,  Andover,  Antrim,  Atkinson, 
Barnstead,  Barrington,  Bath,  Bedford,  Bethlehem,  East  Bosca- 
wen,  West  Boscawen,  Bow,  Bradford,  Brentwood,  Bristol, 
Brookfield,  Brookline,  Candia,  Canterbury,  Center  Harbor, 
Charhstown,  Chester,  Chichestsr,  Claremont,  Colebrook,  Colum- 
bia, Concord,  Dalton,  Danbury,  Deerfield,  Deering,  Derry, 
Dover,  Dublin,  Dunbarton,  Durham,  Epping,  Epsom,  Exeter, 
Fitz's\'iniam,  Francestown,  Gilford,  Gilford  and  Meredith,  Gilman- 
ton  First,  Gilmanton  Village,  Gilmanton  Lower,  Gilsum,  Goffs- 
town,  Goshen,  Greenfield,  Greenland,  Hampstead,  Hampton, 
Hampton  Falls,  Hancock,  Hanover,  Haverhill,  Henniker,  Hills- 
borough, Hollis,  Hooksett,  Hopkinton,  Jaffrey,  Jefferson,  Keene, 
Kensington,  Ivingston,  Lancaster,  Langdon,  Litchfield,  Littleton, 
Lempster,  Loudon,  Lyndeborough,  Madbury,  Marlboro,  Mason, 
Meredith  Bridge,  Meredith  Village,  Merrimack,  Milford,  Mont 
Vernon,  Moultonboro,  Nelson,  New  Boston,  New  Hampton, 
New  Ips^\dch,  New  London,  Newmarket,  Newport,  Northfield, 
North  Hampton,  Northwood,  Oranga,  Ossipee  North,  Ossipee 
South,  Orford  First,  Orford  Second,  Pelham,  Feterboro, 
Plaistow,  PopUn  (Fremont),  Portsmouth,  Raymond,  Richmond, 
Rindge,  Rochester,  Roxbury,  Rumney,  Rye,  Salem,  Salisbury, 
Sandwich,  Stewartstown,  Stoddard,  Strafford,  Stratham,  Sulli- 
van, Surry,  Sutton,  Tamworth,  Temple,  Troy,  Tuftonborough 
Wakefield,  Walpole,  Warner,  Washington,  Weare,  Westmoreland, 
Whitefield,  Wilmot,  Wilton,  Winchester,  Windham,  Wolfe- 
borough. 

The  Bible  Associations  were  auxiliary  to  the  state  Society  and 
were  considered  a  strong  working  force.  They  raised  large 
sums  of  money  for  a  number  of  years  which  were  paid  into  its 
treasury.  Twenty-five  years  later,  in  1849,  we  find  the  number 
of  Ladies'  Associations  mentioned  in  the  annual  report  to  be 
fourteen,  though  many  other  associations  continued  their  organ- 
izations. 

In  1874  the  number  reported  was  six,  and  in  1899,  the  Woman's 
Bible  Society  of  Deerfield  was  the  only  one  reported.  It  was 
organized  in  1827.  This  association  still  continues  an  auxiliary 
of  the  state  Society,  having  a  membership  of  seventy-five. 
The  following  are  its  officers:  President  Miss  Laura  A.  Marston; 
Vice-President,  Mrs.  Flora  Batchclder;  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Bayard.     The  President  and  Secretary  have  each 


b»  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

served  in  these  offices  twenty-three  years,  and  the  Vice-President^ 
fifteen  years. 

COLPORTAGE   WORK. 

During  the  century  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  has  not 
been  satisfied  simply  to  meet  the  demands  coming  to  it,  but  have 
employed  faithful  men  to  seek  out  opportunities  to  place  the 
Bible  in  the  homes  of  the  state.  The  County  Bible  Societies, 
Ladies'  Bible  Auxiharies,  town  agents  and  pastors  of  the  churches 
looked  after  and  reported  the  needs  of  their  respective  fields,  and 
local  depositories  were  opened  in  the  cities  and  large  villages.  The 
first'  annual  report  printed  in  less  than  four  months  after  the 
organization  of  the  state  Society  reports  twenty  depositories, 
or  places  for  Bible  distribution.  In  1817  the  depositories  had 
increased  to  forty-seven,  and  in  1828  the  number  of  distributing 
agents  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-two.  In  1830  the  state  was 
divided  into  districts  and  fifty-one  clergymen  appointed  to 
"address  the  inhabitants  of  their  several  districts  on  the  subject 
of  Bible  operations,  to  request  all  to  aid  in  the  special  efforts,  to 
assemble  and  encourage  Ladies'  Associations,  to  revive  languish- 
ing ones,  to  organize  new  ones,  and  to  ascertain  whether  the 
destitute  had  in  all  cases  been  found  and  supplied."  This 
method  of  Bible  distribution  seems  to  have  been  discontinued 
about  1840  and  only  County  Bible  Societies  continued  their 
depositories. 

It  was  in  1841  that  colportage  work  was  begun  under  the 
management  of  the  State  Society.  At  first  colporteurs  were 
employed  only  a  part  of  the  time  each  year.  We  have  this 
report  as  the  result  of  the  first  year's  work:  The  following 
towns  have  been  visited  and  suppHed,  viz:  Goshen,  12  Bibles, 
80  Testaments;  Grantham,  15  Bibles,  18  Testaments;  Unity,  5 
Bibles,  42  Testaments;  Washington,  12  Bibles,  75  Testaments; 
Wendell  (Sunapee),  21  Bibles,  106  Testaments;  Meriden  Parish, 
6  Bibles,  35  Testaments;  Lempster,  13  Bibles,  32  Testaments; 
Charlestown,  10  Bibles,  52  Testaments;  Newport,  32  Bibles,  76 
Testaments  of  which  21  Bibles  and  25  Testaments  were  donated. 

Jonathan  Cummings,  of  Plymouth,  in  a  report  for  1842  says, 
"Three  years  ago   I  pledged  myself  for  a  supply  of  Grafton 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  69 

County,  and  can  now  say  I  have  rodeemed  this  pledge,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  towns,  and  these  are  in  the  train  of  completion." 
No  figures  were  then  given,  but  hater  he  reported  eleven  hundred 
Bibles  and  Testaments  sold  and  four  hundred  and  thirty-one  do- 
nated, and  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  destitute  families  found. 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Cross,  with  Mrs.  Cross,  from  Portland,  Me., 
spent  three  years  in  New  Hampshire  at  their  own  expense  in 
distributing  the  Scriptures  among  the  poor  and  destitute  in 
Carrol,  Grafton  and  Coos  Counties,  and  in  organizing  Sunday 
Schools. 

During  the  next  seven  years  several  agents  canvassed  in  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  state,  and  among  the  number  the  longest  in 
the  employ  of  the  Society  were  Jonathan  Cummings,  Rev.  Abel 
Levings,  Rev.  Chester  W.  Levings,  Rev,  Charles  S.  Chase,  and 
Dea.  John  S.  R.  Brown. 

It  was  during  1848  that  Dea.  WiUiam  G.  Brown  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Society.  He  continued  in  the  service  forty-four 
years  and  his  many  reports  were  replete  with  items  of  humor  and 
of  interest.  After  forty  years  of  service  he  says  of  his  work, 
"I  have  labored  in  the  'wilderness'  of  New  Hampshire  forty 
years  in  the  distribution  of  the  Bible  for  the  Bible  Society.  I 
have  found  more  than  forty-seven  hundred  Protestant  families 
without  the  Bible  and  have  put  into  circulation  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  copies  of  the  blessed  Book." 

From  1848  to  1892  the  state  was  canvassed  eleven  times  under 
the  immediate  supervision  of  Deacon  Brown  and  every  family 
in  the  state  was  supposed  to  have  been  visited  during  each  can- 
vass. 

During  these  years  there  were  upwards  of  fifty  men  employed 
as  colporteurs,  thirty-six  of  the  number  being  clergymen,  and 
the  four  continuing  in  the  service  of  the  Society  for  more  than 
twenty  years  were  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Brown  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Conference,  Rev.  Edmund  T.  Gilman  of  Ossipee, 
Dea.  Charles  H.  Tillotson  of  Orford,  and  Franklin  S.  Wood,  of 
Keene. 

In  1870  there  were  eighteen  County  and  local  Bible  Deposi- 
tories in  the  stats  and  during  1892  these  were  closed  and  the 
books  returned  to  the  State  Depository  in  Concord,  and  a  mail 


70  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

order  system  established  by  which  books  were  deUvered  in  every 
part  of  the  state  by  mail  or  express  without  additional  expense 
to  the  purchaser,  a  system  by  which  Bibles  are  now  sent  not  only 
to  the  homes  of  New  Hampshire  but  into  about  every  state  in 
the  Union  and  into  foreign  lands. 

From  1892  to  1912  the  state  was  canvassed  four  times,  and  in 
addition  to  the  regular  state  work,  the  manufacturing  cities  were 
canvassed  twice.  Also  a  special  canvass  among  the  foreign 
speaking  people  was  made  in  1907  another  in  1910  a  third  in 
1912  and  the  following  nationalities  were  found:  Albanians,  Arme- 
nians, Bohemians,  Bulgarians,  Chinese,  Finns,  French,  Germans, 
Greeks,  Hungarians,  Italians,  Poles,  Portuguese,  Roumanians, 
Russians,  Swedes,  Syrians  and  Turks,  and  all  were  suppHed  with 
the  Scripturss  in  their  mother  tongue,  so  far  as  they  were  wilHng 
to  receive  them. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Society  to  make  a  complete  canvass  of 
the  state  every  five  years  and  a  special  canvass  of  the  manufac- 
turing cities  and  villages,  and  among  the  foreign  speaking  people 
as  the  need  seems  to  require, 

LOOKING  FORWARD  WITH  GRATITUDE  AND  WITH 
THANKSGIVING  TO  GOD. 

We  have  reviewed  the  past  at  this  end  of  the  century  so  rich 
with  blessings  and  yet  so  eventful  in  momentous  changes,  and 
now  set  our  faces  toward  the  future.  While  the  past  is  secure, 
we  cannot  tell  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  the  Society.  "A 
hundred  years  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch 
in  the  night." 

The  Bible  remains  and  it  is  incontestably  alive  today.  It 
is  the  only  book  which  proclaims  the  everlasting  gospel  of  redemp- 
tion and  the  resurrection,  and  it  is  the  book  this  Society  exists 
to  circulate,  and  if  at  the  end  of  another  century  our  successors 
gather  together,  we  may  be  confident  that  whatever  else  on  earth 
has  waxed  old  and  passed  away,  the  Bible  will  be  reigning  and 
conquering  by  its  revelation  of  the  Father,  and  of  His  Son,  the 
Christ. 


nil  Bi 


New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  Depository 
No.  6  School  Street,  Concord,  N'.  II. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE   BIBLE    SOCIETY.  71 

BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Hon.  John  Langdon,  the  first  President  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society,  was  born  on  the  ancestral  farm  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  on  June  25,  1741.  He  learned  the  trade  of  ship-building 
and  first  came  into  public  life  as  a  selectman.  Paul  Revere  was 
in  Portsmouth,  December  13  or  14,  1774,  with  a  letter  from  the 
Boston  Committee  of  Safety  to  the  Committee  at  Portsmouth, 
and  in  anticipation  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  a  party,  headed 
by  John  Langdon  and  John  Sullivan,  captured  Fort  Wilham  and 
Mary  at  Newcastle,  December  15,  and  removed  the  powder  to 
the  Congregational  Church  in  Durham.  It  was  with  this  powder 
that  the  patriots  fought  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

Mr.  Langdon  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress of  1775-76  which  met  in  Philadelphia  and  issued  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  but  his  name  is  not  signed  to  the  doc- 
ument because  at  the  request  of  President  John  Hancock,  he  had 
previously  returned  to  his  home  to  build  a  ship  for  the  Govern- 
ment. He  built  the  Ranger  of  which  Captain  John  Paul  Jones 
took  command. 

July  10,  1776,  he  was  commissioned  a  Captain  by  Governor 
Meshech  Weare,  and  during  1777  he  served  in  the  field  being 
present  at  the  Battles  of  Bennington,  Saratoga,  and  Newport. 

He  was  elected  a  State  Senator  in  1784  and  1785,  and  was  re- 
elected in  1786,  but  resigned.  He  was  President  of  New  Hamp- 
shire under  the  constitution  of  1784,  and  for  the  year  1785-86, 
and  the  year  1788-89.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention 
which  framed  the  National  Constitution,  a  signer  of  it,  and  a 
delegate  to  the  New  Hampshire  State  Convention  which  first 
met  at  the  Court  House  in  Exeter  February  13,  1788,  and  which 
accepted  the  Constitution  at  the  adjourned  meeting  held  at  the 
Meeting  House  in  Concord,  June  18.  He  was  the  first  United 
States  Senator  from  New  Hampshire  and  continued  in  the  office 
until  1801.  He  was  chosen  President  of  the  Senate  and  presided 
over  it  for  the  few  weeks  before  Vice-President  John  Adams  took 
the  chair,  and  had  the  honor  of  announcing  to  General  George 
Washington  his  election  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

He  was  Governor  of  New  Hampshire  under  the  Constitution 
of  1792  for  the  years  1805  to  1809,  and  from  1810  to  1812.  He 
was  elected  the  first  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  So- 


72  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

ciety  on  June  3,  1812,  and  continued  in  office  until  September 
1814,  when  he  declined  re-election. 

Late  in  life  he  became  a  member  of  the  North  Congregational 
Church  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
Joseph  Buckminster,  D.D.  A  tablet  in  his  memory  was  placed 
in  the  vestibule  of  the  church  by  his  great-grandson,  the  Rev. 
Alfred  Langdon  Elwyn.  Governor  John  Langdon's  only  child, 
Ehzabeth,  married  Thomas  Elwyn,  of  'Canterbury  in  England, 
who  became  a  resident  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States.  Thomas  Elwyn  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Langdon 
Elwyn  were  for  many  years  members  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society. 

Hon.  Timothy  Farrar,  the  second  President  of  the  Society, 
was  born  in  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  June  28,  1747.  He  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard  College  and  for  more  than  forty  successive  years 
from  1775  held  the  office  of  Judge  in  the  Supreme  and  Common 
Pleas  Courts  of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  four  times  elected 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Electors  of  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  in  1804  was  appointed  a  Trustee 
of  Dartmouth  College,  which  office  he  held  for  over  thirty  years. 
He  was  elected  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society 
at  the  third  annual  meeting  held  at  Hanover,  September  21,  1814, 
and  remained  in  office  three  years.  He  lived  to  attain  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  one  years,  seven  months  and  twelve  days, 
and  died  February  21,  1849. 

Hon.  Robert  Means,  the  third  President  of  the  Society  was 
born  in  Amherst,  N.  H.,  January  23,  1786;  graduated  from  Bow- 
doin  College  in  1807;  practiced  law  in  Amherst  until  1831,  when 
he  removed  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  he  died  September  26,  1842. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Amherst. 
He  was  elected  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society 
at  the  sixth  annual  meeting  held  in  Exeter,  September  17,  1817, 
and  remained  in  office  one  year. 

Prof.  Ebenezer  Adams,  the  fourth  President  of  the  Society, 
was  born  at  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  October  2,  1765.  He  graduated 
from  Dartmouth  College  in  1791;  in  1809  was  called  to  the  chair 
of  languages  at  Dartmouth  College,   and  became  professor  of 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  73 

mathematics  and  natural  philosophy,  and  for  years  was  acting 
president  of  the  college.  He  was  elected  President  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Bible  Society  at  the  seventh  annual  meeting  held 
at  Dover,  September  16,  1818,  and  served  the  Society  for  twenty- 
three  years.     He  died  at  Hanover,  N.  H.,  August  15,  1841. 

Hon.  David  Adams,  the  fifth  President  of  the  Society,  was 
born  in  ToA\nisend,  Mass.,  September  9,  1773;  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1797.  His  "Scholars'  Arithmetic"  was  in 
general  use  for  many  years.  He  was  state  senator  in  1839  and 
1840,  and  was  elected  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society  at  the  thirtieth  annual  meeting  held  in  Francestown, 
August  25,  1841,  an  office  which  he  held  for  nineteen  years. 
He  died  at  Keene,  N.  H.,  June  8,  1864. 

Hon.  Edward  Spalding,  M.D,,  the  sixth  President  of  the  So- 
ciety, was  born  in  Amherst,  N.  H.,  September  15,  1813;  graduated 
at  Dartmouth  College  in  1833  and  became  a  practicing  physician 
in  Nashua  in  1837;  was  elected  a  trustee  of  Dartmouth  College 
in  1866;  was  a  member  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in 
Nashua;  was  elected  President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society  at  the  forty-ninth  annual  meeting  held  in  Claremont, 
August  29,  1860,  and  remained  in  office  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
June  22,  1895.     See  for  a  further  sketch  page  44. 

Hon.  Isaac  W.  vSmith,  LL.D.,  the  seventh  President  of  the  So- 
ciety, was  born  in  Hampstead,  N.  H.,  May  18,  1825;  was  educated 
at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Mass.,  and  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege; graduated  from  the  college  in  1846;  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1850.  He  represented  his  ward  in  the  legislature  in  1859 
and  was  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee;  was  elected  to 
the  Senate  in  1862  and  1863,  where  he  was  also  chairman  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee.  In  1863  he  was  appointed  by  President 
Lincoln  assessor  of  the  second  revenue  district  of  New  Hampshire 
and  held  the  office  until  1870.  He  was  twice  appointed  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  after  a  service  of  twenty  years, 
having  reached  the  age  limit,  retired  and  again  entered  upon  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  In  1885,  Judge  Smith  was  elected  one 
of  the  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  held  that  position 
until  his  death.     He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from 


74  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

the  College  in  1889.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Frankhn  Street 
Church  at  Manchester  for  more  than  forty  years.  He  was  elected 
President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  at  the  eighty- 
j&fth  annual  meeting  held  in  Concord,  July  8,  1896,  and  remained 
in  ofhce  to  the  time  of  his  death,  November  28,  1898. 

Hon.  David  Cross,  LL.D.,  the  eighth  President  of  the  Society, 
was  born  in  Weare,  N.  H.,  July  5,  1817;  graduated  from  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1841,  which  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
LL.D.,  in  1891.  He  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Manchester 
about  1844;  was  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Hillsborough 
from  1856  to  1874;  was  United  States  Pension  Agent  from  1865 
to  1872.  For  more  than  sixty-five  years  he  has  followed  his  pro- 
fession as  a  lawyer.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Franklin  Street 
Congregational  Church  in  Manchester,  and  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  at  the  eighty-eighth 
annual  meeting  held  in  Concord  June  19,  1899,  and  still  remains 
in  office. 

Rev.  Frankhn  D.  Ayer,  D.D.,  was  born  in  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt., 
December  19,  1832;  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1856, 
and  from  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1859;  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Milford,  N.  H.,  May 
1,  1861;  became  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
Concord,  N.  H.,  September  12,  1867,  and  after  thirty  years  of 
service  was  made  Pastor  Emeritus. 

Dr.  Ayer  was  secretary  of  the  General  Association  of  New 
Hampshire  from  1871  until  1880.  Li  1881  he  was  elected  a  cor- 
porate member  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions;  was  elected  a  Director  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  in  1875,  and  Secretary  at  the  annual  meeting  held 
June  19,  1878,  and  resigned  the  office  June  13,  1898,  since  which 
time  he  has  been  living  in  Philadelphia. 

Hon.  John  Kimball  was  born  in  Canterbury,  N.  H.,  April 
13,  1821;  was  Collector  of  United  States  Internal  Revenue  1862- 
69  under  the  appointment  of  President  Lincoln;  was  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Concord  1872-76;  was  President  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Senate  in  1881;  is  President  of  the  Merrimack  County  Savings 
Bank,  and  Director  of  the  Mechanics  National  Bank,  Concord; 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE   SOCIETY.  75 

was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  at 
the  annual  meeting  held  June  6,  1871,  and  still  continues  in  office. 

Rev.  Alfred  Langdon  Elwyn,  a  great-grandson  of  Gov.  John 
Langdon,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  December  24,  1832.  His 
father  was  Alfred  Langdon  Elwyn,  M.D.,  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  Langdon  Elwjoi.  His  mother  was  granddaughter  of 
Major  Pierce  Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  a  delegate  to 
the  convention  which  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  He  graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
in  1852;  studied  for  the  ministry  at  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Seminary  in  Virginia;  was  ordained  July  6,  1856.  He  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  a  life  member  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society,  and  has  served  on  the  Board  of  Directors  since 
1897.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Woodbury  Langdon  of  Portsmouth, 
is  also  a  life  member  of  this  Society. 

Rev.  Osman  C.  Baker,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Marlow,  N.  H.,  July 
30,  1812.  He  took  preparatorj^  studies  at  Wilbraham  (Mass.) 
Academy  and  Wesleyan  College,  Middleto^^^l,  Conn,;  was  ad- 
mitted on  trial  to  the  New  Hampshire  Conference  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  in  1838;  was  ordained  an  elder  by  Bishop 
Soule,  at  Dover  in  1841;  was  Presiding  Elder,  Dover  District, 
in  1846;  Professor  of  the  General  Biblical  Institute  at  Concord^ 
N.  H.,  1847-49;  and  President,  1849-52;  was  elected  Bishop  in 
1852;  received  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Wesleyan 
University  and  Dickinson  College  in  1852;  was  elected  a  Director 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Societj^  in  1852,  a  Vice-President  in 
1855,  and  served  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  Concord,  December 
20,  1871. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  E.  Cummings,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Claremont, 
N.  H.,  November  9,  1800;  graduated  at  Colby  University  in  1828, 
and  was  ordained  into  the  Baptist  ministry  and  settled  over  the 
Church  at  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  the  same  year.  He  was  pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church,  Concord,  N.  H.,  1832-50,  and  of  the 
Pleasant  Street  Baptist  Church,  1854-68;  was  President  of  Colby 
Academy,  and  Trustee  of  Colby  University;  received  the  Degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1855;  was 
elected  Vice-President  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  in 


76  THE    FIRST    HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

1866  and  served    for    fourteen    years.     He    died  in    Concord, 
N.   H.,  February  22,  1886. 

Rev.  Elisha  Adams,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Vt., 
July  29,  1815;  was  educated  at  Newbury  Seminary  and  Norwich 
University;  was  ordained  an  Elder  by  Bishop  Roberts,  and  joined 
the  Vermont  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  1840.  During  eleven  years  of  his  ministry  as  presiding  elder, 
he  filled  all  the  districts  in  the  New  Hampshire  Conference. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  Shaw  Uni- 
versity in  1874,  was  elected  a  Director  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Bible  Society  in  1858,  and  a  Vice-President  in  1878,  and  served 
to  the  time  of  his  death  in  Concord,  N.  H.,  August  15,  1880. 

THE   PRINTING    OF   THE   SCRIPTURES   IN   NEW 
HAMPSHIRE. 

In  1795  WiUiam  Stearns  of  Exeter,  printed  and  partially  bound 
an  edition  of  two  thousand  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  prob- 
ably the  first  ever  printed  in  New  Hampshire.  Nearly  the 
whole  edition  was  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  print- 
ing office. 

The  second  edition  of  the  New  Testament  was  printed  by 
Samuel  Bragg,  Jr.,  of  Dover,  during  the  year  1803,  and  the  third 
edition  by  J.  &  W.  R.  Hill  at  Concord,  in  1814. 

During  1815  there  were  two  editions  of  the  New  Testament 
printed;  one  by  Simeon  Ide,  of  New  Ipswich,  one  thousand 
copies  of  which  were  purchased  by  the  New  Hampshire  Bible 
Society,  and  four  thousand  copies  sold  to  the  American  Tract 
Society;  the  other  by  George  Hough,  of  Concord,  of  which 
edition  five  hundred  copies  were  purchased  by  the  Society. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Bible  issued  in  New  Hampshire  was 
by  Isaac  Long,  of  Hopkinton,  during  1813,  six  hundred  copies 
of  which  were  purchased  by  the  Bible  Society. 

The  second  edition  was  called  a  Hieroglyphical  Bible,  and  was 
printed  by  Salmon  Wilder,  of  Jaffrey,  in  1814.  From  1815  to 
1865  there  were  twenty-seven  editions  of  the  Bible  containing 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  forty-nine  editions  of  the 
New  Testament  issued  from  the  presses  of  New  Hampshire,  as 
follows: 


THE 


>T' t  S  T  A  M  I*4t 


OF  OL'-l 


JESUS  CHMS 


ORIGINAL 


FO 


^  S-  B.  ^^- 


Courtosj-  of  the  New  Ilaiiip.shirc  Ilislorical  .^ocictv. 

Full  Size  Title  Page  of  the  New  Testament. 

Printed  by  Samuel  Bragg,  Jr.,  Dover,  X.  H.,  1803. 


new  hampshire  bible  society.  77 

Editions  of  the  Bible. 

Anson  Whipple,  of  Walpole,  printed  an  edition  of  eight  thou- 
sand copies  of  the  Bible  in  1815. 

"About  1810,  Cheever  Felch,  afterward  a  chaplain  in  the  U.  S. 
Navy,  commenced  setting  the  type.  He  however,  prosecuted 
the  work  no  farther  than  to  the  close  of  the  2Gth  Chapter  of 
Deuteronomy,  when  it  was  suspended  till  about  the  year  1813. 
The  composition  was  then  recommenced  by  Charles  Kendall, 
who,  in  about  18  months  completed  the  work,  except  the  Apoc- 
rypha, which  was  set  up  by  a  man  named  Brown."  ^  The  title 
page  reads:  "Printed  at  Walpole,  N.  H.,  by  A.  Whipple  &  Co. 
from  a  press  owned  by  J.  Thomas." 

An  edition  of  the  Bible  in  two  volumes  with  notes  by  Thomas 
Scott,  was  printed  at  Exeter  in  1830,  by  C.  Norris,  Printer.  Hoag 
and  Atwood,  of  Concord,  printed  an  edition  of  the  Bible  in  1831, 
Moses  Atwood,  of  Concord,  an  edition  in  1832,  and  one  edition 
each  by  Luther  Roby,  and  the  Coffin,  Roby  and  Hoag  Com- 
pany, of  Concord,  in  1833. 

During  1836  there  were  six  editions  printed  as  follows:  One 
edition  by  Charles  Lane,  of  Sanbornton,  two  editions  by  Henry 
Wallis  and  Luther  Roby,  and  one  edition  each  by  Charles  Hoag, 
C.  &  A.  Hoag,  and  Roby,  Kimball,  and  Merrill,  all  of  Concord. 
The  title  page  of  the  edition  issued  by  Roby,  Kimball  and  Mer- 
rill reads,  "The  English  Version  of  the  Polyglott  Bible,  con- 
taining the  Old  and  New  Testament;  with  marginal  readings; 
together  with  a  copious  and  original  selection  of  references  to 
parallel  and  illustrative  passages,  exhibited  in  a  manner  hith- 
erto unattempted."  Charles  Lane,  of  Sanbornton,  printed  a 
second  edition  of  the  Bible  during  1837,  and  an  edition  was 
printed  by  John  F.  Brown,  of  Concord,  in  1839.  J.  &  J.  W. 
Prentiss,  of  Keene,  issued  an  edition  in  1840. 

Newell  A.  Foster,  and  Stearns,  Morrill  and  Silsby,  of  Con- 
cord, and  Charles  Lane  of  Meredith  Bridge  (Laconia),  printed 
editions  in  1841;  Charles  H.  Stearns  of  Concord,  an  edition  in 
1843,  and  Luther  Roby,  of  Concord,  two  editions,  one  in  1844 
and  the  other  in  1850.  Peabody  and  Daniell  of  Franklin, 
printed  an  edition  in  1845. 

The  Claremont  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Claremont,  Sim- 

lO'Callagan's  Catalogue  of  American  Bibles. 


78  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

eon  Ide,  Agent,  printed  separate  editions  of  the  Bible  in  1837, 
1838;  1846,  1861,  and  1865.  These  were  printed  in  types  from 
pearl  to  pica  for  home  use,  and  for  use  in  the  pulpit. 

Editions  of  the  New  Testament  Issued  From  the  Presses 
OF  New  Hampshire  from  1818  to  1865. 

S.  A.  Morrison  &  Co.,  of  Keene,  printed  an  edition  in  1818, 
Isaac  Long,  of  Hopkinton,  an  edition  in  1819,  John  I.  Williams, 
of  Exeter,  an  edition  in  1820,  and  Luther  Roby,  of  Amherst,  an 
edition  in  1822. 

Luther  Roby  printed  an  edition  in  Concord  during  1823,  and 
John  W.  Shepard,  of  Concord,  issued  an  edition  in  1823  and  a 
second  edition  in  1824, 

John  W.  Putnam,  of  Concord,  printed  an  edition  in  1827, 
Luther  Roby  an  edition  in  1828,  and  Horatio  Hill  &  Company, 
of  Concord,  two  editions,  one  in  1828  and  the  other  in 
1830,  and  an  edition  was  printed  by  James  Derby,  of  Exeter,  in 
1831. 

Samuel  Coffin,  Davis,  Coffin,  Roby,  Hoag  &  Company, 
Henry  Wallis  and  Luther  Roby,  and  Horatio  Hill  &  Company, 
all  of  Concord,  severally  printed  editions  in  1833. 

Merrill,  Kimball  and  Roby,  Henry  Walhs  and  Luther  Roby, 
and  Luther  Roby,  C.  &  A.  Hoag,  all  of  Concord,  each  printed 
an  edition  during  1834. 

John  F.  Brown,  Henry  Wallis  and  Luther  Roby,  of  Concord, 
printed  one  edition  each,  and  Oliver  L.  Sanborn,  of  Concord, 
two  editions  during  1836. 

Rufus  Merrill,  Luther  Roby,  Samuel  A.  Kimball,  and  Henry 
Wallis  and  Luther  Roby,  all  of  Concord,  printed  editions,  four 
in  number,  during  1838. 

J.  and  J.  W.  Prentiss,  of  Keene,  issued  an  edition  during  1838 
and  another  in  1839.  John  F.  Brown,  of  Concord,  an  edition 
in  1839,  and  Luther  Roby,  and  Roby,  Kimball  and  Merrill,  of 
Concord,  printed  separate  editions  during  1839,  and  Luther  Roby 
editions  during  1840,  1842,  1843,  and  1844,  Charles  H.  Lane, 
an  edition  in  1841,  and  Peabody  and  Daniell,  of  Franklin, 
an  edition  in  1842. 

Edson  C.  Eastman,  of  Concord,  issued  an  edition  during  1860. 

The  Claremont  Manufacturing  Company  printed  editions  dur- 


niL 


NEW  TESTAMENT 

OUR  LORD  AM)  SAVIOUR 


A  >  I; 

v\ini  i ;''   '"  ■  W'-n  i\\  \nsi.ations  i^ii  -'  '  ni 


.S.  Pav6  0iv,1>.  l' 


.'V  >:  J/  .>iijcif,  a:  h. 

KINi'iiD,    PL'DLISIIKD,  AND  SOLUj    BY   SIMKON'IDh. 


VJl^F 


By  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  Ezra  A.  Stearns. 


Full  .Size  Title  Page  of  the  New  Testament. 
Printed  by  Simeon  Ide,  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  181j. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  79 

ing  1837,  1846,  1860,  1861  and  1865.  The  edition  of  1846  had 
references  and  marginal  readings.  During  the  Civil  War  the 
soldiers  leaving  Claremont  were  furnished  with  copies  of  the 
New  Testament  by  the  Claremont  Manufacturing  Company. 
An  edition  of  the  Psalms  was  printed  by  D.  V.  Moulton,  of  San- 
bornton,  in  1831,  making  twenty-nine  editions  of  the  Bible  and 
forty-nine  editions  of  the  New  Testament  issued  in  New  Hamp- 
shire prior  to  1865. 

Sets  of  stereotyped  plates  were  owned  by  several  of  the  pub- 
lishers in  the  state.  John  I.  Williams  and  James  Derby,  of  Exe- 
ter, and  Stearns,  Morrill  and  Silsby,  and  Henry  Wallis,  of  Con- 
cord, were  manufacturers  of  sterotype  plates.  Four  sets  of 
plates  seem  to  have  been  owned  in  Concord.  A  power  press  was 
set  up  in  the  building  at  No.  256  North  Main  Street  about  1830. 
The  power  for  the  running  of  the  press  was  the  old  fashioned 
horse  sweep  in  the  cellar  of  the  building,  where  the  horse  walked 
around  a  circle.  About  twenty  editions  of  the  Scriptures  were 
issued  from  this  office.  A  number  of  the  editions  of  family  Bibles 
and  Bibles  for  pulpit  use,  and  part  of  the  editions  of  the  New 
Testament  were  type  set.  Many  of  the  editions  were  bought 
by  the  State  Society  for  use  in  canvass  work  and  to  supply  the 
demands  of  the  County  and  Towoi  Societies,  and  for  local  deposi- 
tories. 

From  1812  to  1817  the  Scriptures  used  by  the  State  Society 
were  largely  printed  in  the  state,  and  the  printing  of  the  Scrip- 
tures was  then  considered  one  of  the  local  industries  of  the  state. 
From  1817  to  1844  about  one  half  of  the  Scriptures  used  in  the 
state  work  were  bought  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  of 
publishers  outside  of  the  state.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  1844 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  State  Society : 

"That  Bibles  and  Testaments  be  procured  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  only,  excepting  a  small  Reference  Bible  pul)lished 
in  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  that  the  expediency  of  publishing  a 
similar  edition  be  respectfully  suggested  by  this  Board  to  the 
Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Bible  Society." 

This  action  of  the  Society  seems  in  a  great  measure  to  have 
stopped  the  publishing  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  state. 

The  last  edition  of  the  Scriptures  printed  in  New  Hampshire 
seems  to  have  been  the  work  of  the  Claremont  Manufacturing 


80  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

Company,  Simeon  Ide,  agent,  during  1865,  copies  of  which  were 
for  sale  at  the  Depository  of  the  Bible  Society  in  Concord  as  late 
as  1892. 

Copies  of  the  above  mentioned  editions  of  the  Bible  and  New 
Testament,  except  the  New  Testament  of  1795,  and  the  edition 
of  the  Bible  issued  by  Isaac  Long  of  Hopkinton,  during  1813, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  libraries  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts and  New  York,  and  have  been  examined  by  the  writer. 

It  is  said  that  following  the  burning  of  the  first  edition  of  the 
New  Testament  printed  by  Wilham  Stearns,  of  Exeter,  in  1795, 
by  a  fire  in  the  office,  a  second  edition  was  immediately  printed, 
and  that  another  edition  was  printed  in  the  same  office  during 
1820.  Also  that  two  or  more  editions  of  the  Scriptures  were 
printed  in  Portsmouth  earlier  than  1840.  Search  has  been  made, 
but  no  copies  have  been  found,  although  people  now  living  can 
recall  that  copies  were  in  the  homes  of  Rockingham  County  as 
late  as  1852.  The  history  of  Sanbornton  says  that  "several  edi- 
tions of  the  New  Testament  were  printed  in  Sanbornton  early  in 
the  (nineteenth)  century,"  but  no  copies  have  been  found.  Other 
town  histories  mention  the  printing  of  books  but  do  not  men- 
tion the  printing  of  the  Scriptures.  One  edition  of  the  Bible, 
in  five  volumes,  with  notes  by  Thomas  Scott,  printed  in  1823 
with  a  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  imprint,  without  the  name  of  the  pub- 
lisher, has  been  found,  and  one  edition  of  the  Bible  and  four  edi- 
tions of  the  New  Testament  with  a  Concord,  N.  H.  imprint,  but 
without  the  name  of  the  publisher  or  date  of  publication,  are 
not  included  in  the  above  mentioned  editions. 

Book  binding  was  also  one  of  the  early  industries  of  the  state, 
and  many  editions  of  the  Scriptures  printed  in  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  were  bound  in  New  Hampshire  and  returned 
to  the  publishers  for  use  elsewhere.  One  edition  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  copies  sent  from  Hartford,  Conn.,  was  bought  by  the 
Bible  Society  in  1813,  and  no  edition  of  the  Bible  or  New  Testa- 
ment has  been  found  which  was  printed  since  1865. 


Photographed  by  E.  J.  Aiken. 

Monument  Erected  in  Memory  of  Rev.  Thomas  Charles. 

At  Bala,  North  Wales,  1875. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  81 

THE  STORY  OF  MARY  JONES  AND  THE  ORGAN- 
IZATION OF  THE  BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN  BIBLE 
SOCIETY. 

In  1796  a  society  in  London,  organized  in  1698  for  the  pro- 
motion of  Christian  knowledge,  printed  an  edition  of  ten  thou- 
sand copies  of  the  Welsh  Bible.  The  demand  was  so  great  that 
the  edition  was  soon  exhausted  and  the  people  of  Wales  begged 
for  more. 

During  this  year,  1796,  there  was  a  religious  awakening  in  the 
town  of  Llanfihangel-y-Pennant,  and  among  the  converts  was 
Mary  Jones,  a  little  girl  of  about  ten  years  of  age.  Her  first 
desire  seemed  to  be  for  a  copy  of  the  Bible  in  the  Welsh  tongue. 
The  edition  of  ten  thousand  copies  had  been  sold,  but  there  was 
a  copy  in  the  town  two  miles  distant  from  her  home,  and  she 
was  permitted  to  read  from  it  for  an  hour  every  Saturday  after- 
noon. Six  years  passed  during  which  she  earned  and  laid  by 
every  penny  she  could.  The  time  came  when  she  had  money 
enough  to  buy  a  Bible.  She  had  learned  that  in  the  town  of 
Bala,  twenty-five  miles  away,  in  the  home  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Charles,  there  was  a  copy  for  sale.  She  started  early  one  morning, 
her  shoes  in  one  hand,  as  she  could  not  afford  to  wear  them,  and 
her  purse  in  the  other — if  you  have  ever  seen  the  mountains  of 
Wales  you  can  understand  something  of  the  undertaking  of  this 
girl — and  reached  the  home  of  Mr.  Charles  at  eventide  only  to 
find  the  Bible  had  been  sold  and  delivered.  She  burst  into  tears 
at  the  thought  that  the  prayers,  the  waiting  and  working,  the 
savings  of  six  long  years,  the  weary  tramp  with  bare  feet  were 
all  in  vain.  Her  sobs  broke  the  silence,  and  appealed  to  Mr. 
Charles'  heart  with  a  pathos  which  he  was  wholly  unable  to  re- 
sist. He  gave  her  a  Bible  kept  for  another,  and  said  "From  this 
day  I  can  never  rest  until  I  find  out  some  means  to  supply  the 
pressing  wants  of  my  country  that  cry  out  for  the  Word  of  God." 

That  winter  he  visited  London  full  of  his  one  great  thought 
and  purpose,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society 
he  spoke  most  feelingly  and  eloquently  about  Wales  and  told 
the  story  of  the  little  girl's  disappointment,  and  asked.  Cannot 
there  be  a  society  for  furnishing  the  Bible  for  Wales?  The  ap- 
peal was  not  without  its  effect.  It  awakened  a  thrill  of  sym- 
pathy for  a  people  that  so  longed  and  thirsted  for  the  word  of 


82  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

God,  and  one  of  the  Secretaries,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hughes,  rose, 
and  exclaimed  enthusiastically,  "Mr.  Charles,  surely  a  society 
might  be  formed  for  the  purpose,  and  if  for  Wales,  why  not  for 
the  whole  World?" 

This  noble  Christian  sentiment  moved  the  hearts  of  many 
and  two  years  later,  on  the  seventh  day  of  March,  1804,  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  organized,  and  in  the  for- 
mation of  this  Society  all  denominations  met  and  were  thus 
brought  into  sympathy  by  a  common  cause,  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  serve  their  common  Master.  The  story  of  Mary  Jones 
is  among  the  publications  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Soci- 
ety and  her  Bible  is  sacredly  preserved  among  its  treasures. 

During  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  society's  existence,  it  issued 
each  year  on  an  average  559,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures,  com- 
plete or  in  parts.  During  the  closing  six  years  of  the  first  cen- 
tury the  average  was  5,190,000  copies.  The  issue  for  1910  was 
6,975,886  copies.  At  the  end  of  the  first  fifty  years  the  Society 
sent  out  on  an  average  one  volume  in  twenty-three  seconds;  at 
the  end  of  one  hundred  years,  one  volume  in  every  five  seconds; 
during  1910  one  volume  in  about  every  three  and  one-half  sec- 
onds. The  total  issues  of  the  Society  to  1912  exceed  229,000,000 
copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

A  STORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 

Like  Rev.  Thomas  Charles,  of  Bala,  Wales,  was  Rev.  Samuel  J. 
Mills,  "the  hero  of  the  haystack,"  whose  zeal  for  foreign  mis- 
sions led  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Board,  who  was  also 
a  pioneer  in  home  missions,  and  whose  work  is  mentioned  in  the 
annual  reports  of  this  Society  for  1814-15.  It  was  through  his 
personal  efforts  that  Bible  Societies  were  organized  throughout 
the  West  and  Southwest  of  our  country  during  the  opening  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Largely  inspired  by  the  reports  of 
this  work,  Hon.  Elias  Boudinot,  president  of  the  Bible  Society 
of  New  Jersey,  in  1815  proposed  the  formation  of  a  National 
Bible  Society  in  the  United  States,  and  thirty-five  local  Bible 
societies  united  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
May  8,  1816,  and  eighty-five  other  Bible  societies  became  aux- 
iliary to  it  during  the  first  year  of  it  existence. 

The  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  though  not  represented  at 


Colporteur  Band  Sent  Out  by  a  Chinese  Christian. 

American  Bible  Society  work  in  China. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE    SOCIETY.  83 

the  meeting  for  its  organization,  at  the  annual  meeting  held  Sep- 
tember 18,  1816,  voted  "That  as  the  state  of  our  resources  may 
from  time  to  time  permit,  we  will  pour  of  our  gold  and  of  our  sil- 
ver into  this  treasury  of  the  Lord;  and  that  we  shall  rejoice  to 
be  enrolled  among  the  number  of  those  Societies  who  may  annu- 
ally contribute  in  aid  of  that  noble  institution." 

The  best  story  of  the  American  Bible  Society  is  a  statement  of 
its  work.  The  society  has  its  foreign  agencies  and  colporteurs 
at  work  in  China,  Korea,  Japan,  Siam,  the  Turkish  Empire,  and 
Egypt,  and  with  the  missions  of  Egyptian  Soudan,  East  and 
West  Africa,  Persia,  Arabia  and  India,  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
and  Pacific  Oceans,  including  the  Philippine  Islands  and  Micro- 
nesia. The  society  works  through  correspondents  in  Norway, 
Sweden,  Russia,  Germany,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Spain 
and  Portugal. 

In  South  America  it  has  its  agencies  and  workers  in  every 
country  from  Venezuela  to  Patagonia,  throughout  Central  Amer- 
ica and  a  part  of  the  West  Indies,  including  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico.  Mexico  has  its  agency  and  workers.  Its  domestic  agen- 
cies covering  our  home  land  are  nine  in  number,  as  follows:  The 
Eastern,  the  Atlantic,  the  South  Atlantic,  the  Central,  the  West- 
em,  the  North-western,  the  South-western,  and  the  Pacific,  with 
a  special  agency  working  among  the  colored  people  of  the  South. 
The  Society  has  twenty-one  established  agencies  and  employs 
one  thousand  and  twenty-five  colporteurs,  Bible  women  and 
other  distributers.  The  Scriptures  are  issued  from  the  Bible 
House  in  New  York  in  eighty  languages  other  than  English,  and 
in  many  other  languages  abroad. 

The  auxiliaries  and  other  local  Bible  Societies  and  the  Mis- 
sionary Societies  of  every  denomination,  at  home  and  in  foreign 
lands,  have  been  and  are  today  deeply  indebted  to  the  American 
Bible  Society  for  their  supply  of  the  Scriptures,  so  necessary  for 
their  work,  and  for  the  work  of  their  colporteurs  in  every  mission 
field,  for  the  Bible  colporteur  is  in  every  land  the  van-guard  of 
Christ's  advancing  host. 

The  Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup,  D.D.,  for  more  than  fifty  years 
a  missionary  in  Syria,  said,  "The  Bible  Society  is  the  plow-share 
of  missions." 

A  native  Fiji  Islander,  attending  the  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference at  Edinburgh,  June,  1910,  said  that  "during  his  remem- 


84  THE    FIRST   HUNDRED    YEARS    OF   THE 

brance  a  young  woman  or  a  girl  could  be  bought  upon  the  islands 
for  a  life  of  slavery  or  of  shame  for  an  English  guinea,  but  with 
the  coming  of  the  Bible  such  a  thing  was  made  impossible  with 
all  the  wealth  of  the  Bank  of  England,"  and  a  resident  mission- 
ary in  Korea  writes,  "Nine-tenths  of  our  success  are  the  results 
of  Bible  Society  work." 

No  other  interdenominational  society  in  our  country  has  a 
stronger  claim  upon  the  benevolence  of  the  churches  of  every 
denomination,  and  stands  in  greater  need  of  their  gifts  than  the 
American  Bible  Society  of  New  York. 

The  story  of  a  year's  work  may  be  given  by  the  figures  which 
show  the  issues  of  the  Society,  for  the  year  ending  March  31, 
1911,  amount  to  3,231,722  volumes.  This  total  comprises  393,- 
230  Bibles,  635,137  Testaments,  and  2,203,355  Gospels,  Psalters, 
and  other  portions.  That  is  10,500  copies  for  each  and  every 
working  day  during  the  year.  The  total  issues  of  the  society 
in  ninety-five  years  amount  to  90,527,904  volumes. 

During  1804  a  society  was  organized  in  New  York  City  to 
purchase  Bibles  and  lend  them  for  a  limited  time,  not  to  exceed 
one  month. 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  OTHER  BIBLE  SOCIETIES. 

The  Naval  and  Military  Bible  Society,  of  London,  during  1780. 

The  Hibernian  Bible  Society,  during  1806. 

Swedish  Evangehcal  Bible  Society,  during  1808. 

The  Edinburgh  Bible  Society,  during  1809.  This  society  later 
became  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland. 

The  Finnish  Bible  Society,  during  1812. 

The  Russian  Bible  Society,  December,  1812.  This  society 
was  organized  at  St.  Petersburg  and  received  the  approval  of 
Czar  Alexander  I,  as  the  Army  of  Napoleon  was  retreating  from 
Moscow. 

The  Netherlands  Bible  Society,  during  1815. 

The  Protestant  Bible  Society  of  France,  during  1818. 

The  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  during  1861. 

The  Philadelphia  Bible  Society,  now  the  Pennsylvania,  was 
organized  December  11,  1808,  and  was  the  first  to  be  organized 
in  the  United  States. 


MOUNTAINEEK    (ilKLS    OK    SlAM. 
American  Rible  Society  work  in  .Siuni. 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE    BIBLE   SOCIETY.  85 

The  New  York  Bible  Society  was  organized  Decemhor  4,  and 
the  New  Jersey  Bible  Society,  during  December,  1809. 

The  Organization  of  the  New  England  Bible  Societies. 

Connecticut  Bible  Society,  May  11,  1809. 
Massachusetts  Bible  Society,  July  6,  1809. 
The  Bible  Society  of  Maine,  August  30,  1809. 
The  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society,  June  3,  1812. 
Vermont  Bible  Society,  September  10,  1812. 
Rhode  Island  Bible  Society,  August  10,  1813. 

The  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  as  reported  by  three  of  the 
National  Societies  for  1911  is  as  follows: 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  6,975,886  copies. 
The  American  Bible  Society,  3,231,722  copies. 
The  National  Society,  of  Scotland,  2,562,346  copies. 

To  the  issues  of  the  British  and  Foreign,  the  American  Bible 
Society,  and  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland,  add  the  annual 
reported  issues  from  two  societies  in  France,  twelve  in  Germany, 
one  in  Holland,  three  in  Russia,  four  in  Scandinavia,  and  one 
in  Switzerland,  with  the  publication  of  several  Bible  societies 
not  reported,  and  the  estimated  issue  from  the  many  publish- 
ing houses,  such  as  the  Oxford,  Nelson,  Bagster,  Cambridge, 
International,  and  Holm,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  not  far  from 
twenty  million  copies  of  the  Scriptures,  including  the  entire 
Bible  and  portions  thereof,  are  printed  and  circulated  each  year, 
that  is,  a  number  in  excess  of  sixty  thousand  copies  for  each  and 
every  working  day  during  the  year. 

Three  thousand  six  hundred  colporteurs  and  Bible  women  in 
all  lands  are  connected  with  the  three  great  Bible  Societies.  State 
and  local  organizations  employ  many  others.  Foreign  missions 
of  the  different  denominations  depend  almost  wholly  upon  these 
Societies  for  the  Scriptures  used  in  their  work,  and  many  of  their 
missionaries,  especially  the  native  Christians,  are  also  practi- 
cally Bible  colporteurs. 


86  the  first  hundred  years  of  the 

Translations  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  alone  issues  the  complete 
Bible  in  105  languages  and  dialects,  and  some  portions  of  the 
Scriptures  in  418.  The  Scriptures  in  whole  or  in  part  are  pub- 
lished in  526  languages  and  dialects.  Of  these  translations,  17 
were  made  in  Europe,  509  in  England  and  America. 

Facts  About  the  Bible. 

The  first  book  printed  from  movable  metal  types  was  the 
Latin  Bible  in  the  year  1455. 

The  first  Bible  printed  in  this  country  was  in  the  Natick  In- 
dian language  in  1663  by  John  Eliot. 

The  first  English  Bible  printed  in  this  country  was  in  1752, 
with  great  privacy  by  Kneeland  &  Green  in  Boston.  It  was 
printed  for  Daniel  Henchman,  and  had  the  London  imprint  on 
the  title-page,  to  avoid  detection  by  the  officers  of  the  crown. 
It  was  an  unlawful  enterprise,  as  Great  Britain  did  not  allow  the 
Bible  to  be  printed  either  at  home  or  in  the  colonies,  except  by 
royal  license.     The  edition  was  about  eight  hundred  copies. 

Some  parts  of  the  Bible  in  about  thirty  (30)  different  languages 
now  exist  in  embossed  type  for  the  blind. 


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